Germany’s Underappreciated Art Scene: Artistic masters and their significance in European Art History
Woman before the rising sun - Caspar David Friedrich (1818) (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
When thinking of Europe’s greatest artists, what names come to mind? Perhaps Italian Renaissance painters like da Vinci and Caravaggio? Maybe Vermeer and Rembrandt, the Dutch masters of the Golden Age? Or perhaps you think of France and the colourful splendeur of Monet or Cézanne? The reality is that few will first think of a German name, or even associate Germany with a rich artistic tradition. Is there a reason behind this underappreciation? More often than not, Germany’s artistic heritage has only been at the centre of conversation when in context of the Third Reich and the Nazi plunder of Jewish collections. While this dark chapter in the nation’s cultural history undeniably requires critical attention and investigation, those who turn their backs on Germany’s extensive artistic tradition miss out on perhaps one of the most influential artistic forces in the continent’s history.
Renaissance
Dating as far back as the late 15th Century, German artists were at the foreground of the sophisticated fine art scene, excelling in technical development and anatomical accuracy. The most significant practitioner of this era was undoubtedly the Bavarian-born Albrecht Dürer. As a printmaker and painter, Dürer’s artistic ability was unmatched, creating woodcuts, paintings and copper engravings with exceptional tonal contrast, proportional exactitude, and sense of depth and space. In building upon the customs of the Italian Renaissance, Dürer depicted a wide range of different subjects including animals, landscapes, portraiture, and biblical motifs. He also published theoretical works concerning artistic matters, as well as other topics such as mathematics, urban planning, and social reform. Dürer’s admirers and imitators span the timeline of Germany’s cultural history, including Goethe who, upon first viewing Dürer’s self portrait, described the work as ‘unschätzbar’ (invaluable). Today, Dürer ought to be regarded with the same veneration as his Italian Renaissance counterparts.
Wing of a European Roller - Albrecht Dürer (circa 1512) (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Romanticism
The 19th century saw Germany pioneer an artistic and intellectual path that was distinctly independent from other European movements. Creative minds of the Romantic movement often fused the borders of the arts, viewing literature, music, and fine art as fundamentally intertwined disciplines. Artistic ability was upheld as an aptitude that could not be learned, as it stemmed directly from a divine inspiration to depict the omnipresence of God in nature through landscape painting. Caspar David Friedrich was upheld as one of the most innovative of these artists, as he frequently incorporated the human subject into his landscapes, presenting man as engulfed and overshadowed in silent contemplation of the vast expanse of the natural world. He popularised the compositional motif of the Rückenfigur, which is now associated with German romantic painting. The human subject is depicted as facing away from the viewer, instead observing the magnificence of the landscape, aligning the subject and viewer’s gaze as one. The Rückenfigur can be seen in many later works by the likes of Hammershøi, Dalí, and Rockwell.
Expressionism
Der Blaue Reiter (1911-1914) was an artistic group that had a profound impact on the development of Expressionism and other forms of abstract art in 20th century Europe, despite being short-lived. Much like its counterpart Die Brücke (1905-1913), the movement was established as a collaboration between artists, both German and international, seeking to reject the increasingly strict and traditional approaches to modern art. Among its members were the likes of Wassily Kandinsky, Franz Marc, Paul Klee, and Gabriele Münter. Each artist had their own distinct, individual style, but shared a common interest in spontaneity and the spiritual potential of colour theory. For Kandinsky, blue was the colour of spirituality itself; the deeper the blue, the greater the invocation of man’s spiritual awakening. The group’s name is theorised to have been derived from Kandinsky’s affinity with the colour blue, as well as his and Marc‘s shared love of horses, exemplified in ‘Blue Horse I’ (1911). Der Blaue Reiter’s approach to colour and abstraction has often been affiliated with American artists such as Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko.
Blue Horse I - Franz Marc (1911) (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Contemporary
The end of the Second World War ought to be marked as a distinct turn in German art history, as a new generation of artists demanded that the nation’s horrific atrocities be justly confronted, and that a clear format of German memory culture be defined. Through a combination of representation and abstraction, artists such as Gerhard Richter seek to resurrect the memories of victims of National Socialism. In his works, Richter frequently draws upon personal archives such as family albums and travel photos –in which he blurs the boundaries between painting and photography in a palimpsest of historical record. Within his own family history, Richter acknowledges his relatives as both perpetrators and victims of Hitler’s regime. ‘Onkel Rudi’ (1965) is based on a photograph of Richter’s uncle in Wehrmacht uniform taken before he was killed in action, while ‘Tante Marianne’ (1965) shows Richter’s young aunt holding him as a baby before she was involuntarily euthanised as a schizophrenic under the T4 programme. Richter also practises more abstracted and conceptual methods to capture the guilt and grief that manifests itself deep within the German nation’s collective memory, adopting an uncannily harsh colour palette of pigments, which are then thickly layered and dragged into one another. Together with artists such as Anselm Kiefer and Georg Baselitz, Richter challenges evasiveness and taboo in German culture, finding new visual strategies to recreate a national identity founded on remembrance.
From spiritualism to memorial, Germany possesses a rich and distinguished artistic tradition with many significant practitioners throughout its history. Readers wishing to learn more would benefit from visiting the Fitzwilliam Museum here in Cambridge, as it offers a wide selection of German artworks, including an extensive collection of prints by Albrecht Dürer.