Art, National Socialism, and the “Degenerate” Art Show – Dan Reich

Dan Reich, Curator & Director of Education at the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum, presents the Nazi assault on art and the importance and legacy of the Degenerate Art Exhibition.

Following the Nazis’ ascent to power in 1933, efforts began to purge German culture of so-called “degeneracy.” In 1937, the Nazis mounted the Great German Art Exhibition, a celebration of art which they had approved. As a counterpoint to this celebration of State-approved art, the Nazis organized the Degenerate Art Exhibition. The exhibition, which ran from July through November 1937, featured works of art confiscated from German museums and drew more than 2,000,000 visitors. Many of these confiscated works were subsequently sold off (including Henri Matisse’s masterpiece, Bathers with a Turtle, now in the collection of the St. Louis Art Museum) and many thousands of others were subsequently burned. This program is co-sponsored with the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum. To view the Zoom recording click here.