The Dresdner Sezession (Dresden Secession) was an art group aligned with German Expressionism founded by Otto Schubert, Conrad Felixmüller and his pupil Otto Dix in Dresden, during a period of political and social turmoil in the aftermath of World War I. The group's activity spanned from 1919 until its final collective exhibition in 1925. During its heyday, the group consisted of some of the most influential and prominent expressionist artists of their generations, including Will Heckrott, Lasar Segall, Otto Schubert and Constantin von Mitschke-Collande, as well as the architect Hugo Zehder and writers Walter Rheiner, Heinar Schilling, and Felix Stiemer.[1]
Much of what is considered by many art historians[who?] to be the true peak of German expressionist art occurred in the first decades of the twentieth century just prior to World War I. German expressionism of that period noted for its humourless and vicious criticism of the German government and upper classes, and was dominated by two major artistic groups known as Die Brücke (The Bridge), which was highly critical of Germany's increasingly imperialistic aggression and Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider), which focused much of its commentary on industrialization's impact on the natural world. But the European war brought about the collapse of European society and the major art groups were swiftly broken up and scattered by the onset of the first world war. Those artists who failed to flee Europe found themselves conscripted to the front lines and many important artist such as Franz Marc and August Macke were killed in the trenches. During the war, European art seemed to take an unofficial hiatus amongst the carnage[citation needed] and it was not until peace returned in 1918 that a second generation of young German expressionists, many having endured the war through their late teens to early twenties, congregated into a variety of artistic movements opposing the violence of war.
In 1918, Conrad Felixmüller moved to Dresden, where he became the founder and chairman of the group. During his activities in Germany's progressive art and youth movements, Felixmüller worked for various newspapers including Die Sichel in Regensburg and Rote Erde in Hamburg).[2] The Dresdner Sezessionists were heavily influenced by many of the other contemporary German art movements of their day. Many of the members kept a close eye on the flourishing avant-garde art movements such as the Dadaists.[3] Artists like Dix adopted and appropriated many traits of dada such as the use of collage compositions into his own expressionistic style. Many founding members including Felixmüller, Dix and Schubert were active in a variety of other socially conscious, incendiary groups such the Novembergruppe.[3]
The works of this new generation of disillusioned artists placed a much greater emphasis on political and social reformation through pacifistic means. Rather than adopting the nihilistic social criticism and cynicism of their Die Brücke predecessors, these new expressionist would instead rally around optimistic and utopian beliefs that a happier world built on the ideal of peaceful coexistence could emerge from the ruins of 1918. This dream however would die with the advent of World War II and the rise of the Third Reich in the decades to come.
Later years under the Third Reichedit
Even though the group was officially dissolved in 1925 due to financial difficulties, the members would continue to have active and relatively successful political and artistic careers until the 1930s-40s when many were considered "Degenerates" by the newly formed Nazi Government and declared enemies of the state. Under antimodernist Alfred Rosenberg, many forms of modern art including Impressionism, Abstract, Cubism, Dada and Expressionism were declared illegal in the German state in preference for more realistic classical styles.[citation needed] This legislation led to an aggressive and oppressive smear campaign in order to curb and stamp out modern art. Suddenly Felixmüller, Dix and the rest of the former secessionists found their studios being raided by the Gestapo and their paintings burned in the streets. Many artists considered lost their jobs at universities and museums and were forbidden from painting under threat of imprisonment. The few Jewish members, like the Brazilian-Lithuanian artist Segall, faced particularly harsh persecution and quickly emigrated from Germany; Segall himself moved to Brazil.[4]
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This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Dresden Secession news newspapers books scholar JSTOR June 2012 Learn how and when to remove this message The Dresdner Sezession Dresden Secession was an art group aligned with German Expressionism founded by Otto Schubert Conrad Felixmuller and his pupil Otto Dix in Dresden during a period of political and social turmoil in the aftermath of World War I The group s activity spanned from 1919 until its final collective exhibition in 1925 During its heyday the group consisted of some of the most influential and prominent expressionist artists of their generations including Will Heckrott Lasar Segall Otto Schubert and Constantin von Mitschke Collande as well as the architect Hugo Zehder and writers Walter Rheiner Heinar Schilling and Felix Stiemer 1 Much of what is considered by many art historians who to be the true peak of German expressionist art occurred in the first decades of the twentieth century just prior to World War I German expressionism of that period noted for its humourless and vicious criticism of the German government and upper classes and was dominated by two major artistic groups known as Die Brucke The Bridge which was highly critical of Germany s increasingly imperialistic aggression and Der Blaue Reiter The Blue Rider which focused much of its commentary on industrialization s impact on the natural world But the European war brought about the collapse of European society and the major art groups were swiftly broken up and scattered by the onset of the first world war Those artists who failed to flee Europe found themselves conscripted to the front lines and many important artist such as Franz Marc and August Macke were killed in the trenches During the war European art seemed to take an unofficial hiatus amongst the carnage citation needed and it was not until peace returned in 1918 that a second generation of young German expressionists many having endured the war through their late teens to early twenties congregated into a variety of artistic movements opposing the violence of war In 1918 Conrad Felixmuller moved to Dresden where he became the founder and chairman of the group During his activities in Germany s progressive art and youth movements Felixmuller worked for various newspapers including Die Sichel in Regensburg and Rote Erde in Hamburg 2 The Dresdner Sezessionists were heavily influenced by many of the other contemporary German art movements of their day Many of the members kept a close eye on the flourishing avant garde art movements such as the Dadaists 3 Artists like Dix adopted and appropriated many traits of dada such as the use of collage compositions into his own expressionistic style Many founding members including Felixmuller Dix and Schubert were active in a variety of other socially conscious incendiary groups such the Novembergruppe 3 The works of this new generation of disillusioned artists placed a much greater emphasis on political and social reformation through pacifistic means Rather than adopting the nihilistic social criticism and cynicism of their Die Brucke predecessors these new expressionist would instead rally around optimistic and utopian beliefs that a happier world built on the ideal of peaceful coexistence could emerge from the ruins of 1918 This dream however would die with the advent of World War II and the rise of the Third Reich in the decades to come Later years under the Third Reich editEven though the group was officially dissolved in 1925 due to financial difficulties the members would continue to have active and relatively successful political and artistic careers until the 1930s 40s when many were considered Degenerates by the newly formed Nazi Government and declared enemies of the state Under antimodernist Alfred Rosenberg many forms of modern art including Impressionism Abstract Cubism Dada and Expressionism were declared illegal in the German state in preference for more realistic classical styles citation needed This legislation led to an aggressive and oppressive smear campaign in order to curb and stamp out modern art Suddenly Felixmuller Dix and the rest of the former secessionists found their studios being raided by the Gestapo and their paintings burned in the streets Many artists considered lost their jobs at universities and museums and were forbidden from painting under threat of imprisonment The few Jewish members like the Brazilian Lithuanian artist Segall faced particularly harsh persecution and quickly emigrated from Germany Segall himself moved to Brazil 4 References edit MoMA German Expressionism Conrad Felixmuller Biography Infos for Sellers and Buyers a b Archived copy PDF Archived from the original PDF on 2012 08 13 Retrieved 2012 06 10 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint archived copy as title link Segall Lasar External links edithttp museum oglethorpe edu GermanExpressionism html permanent dead link https www jewishvirtuallibrary org jsource judaica ejud 0002 0018 0 17954 html http www spaightwoodgalleries com Pages Felixmuller html http www moma org collection ge browse results php criteria O AD E 34110 7CA AR E 3 amp role 3 https web archive org web 20120813083521 http www mariabuszek com kcai Expressionism Readings Brrn2ndGen pdf http weimarart blogspot ca 2010 06 otto griebel html http bilder buecher de zusatz 27 27952 27952975 lese 1 pdf http www felixmuller conrad com index shtml Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Dresden Secession amp oldid 1218243883, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
