The daily sentinel., 1914-04-27
NUDE ART ROCKS
GERMANY; FILTH"
SAYS STATESMAN
Goethe Association and Moral
lists War Over Post Cards
of Old Masterpieces.

Berlin, April 27.-German moral
lists and artists are waging battle
over the question Of what are the
limits e. propriety in nude art.
After a long campaign for the
protection of the youth against filth
in word and picture as the move
ment is termed, the moralists have
succeeded in getting a bill before
parliament for a law stamping as in
decent pictures which might arouse
the phatasies of unriDe youth"
The Goethe association. an organ
ization of artists and literary men
and women. has risen in protest. At
a recent meeting Dr. Ludwig Fulda
referred to the recent decision of the
Imperial Supreme court in the cases
arising from the confiscation by the
police of the great quantity of post
card reproductions of famous paint
ings. This court held that the pro-
vision of the law stamping as inde-
cent works which tend to cause Of
fense to or iniure the feelings of
modesty of a normal person clearly
contemplated a normal adult person,
and that pictures were not necessari-
ly indecent from the mere fact that
they might arouse the phantasies
OF unripe youth The court also
ruled that nudity is not in itself in
decency. This latter ruling, said DR..
Fulda, was undoubtedly a vote of
confidence in the creator of all
things.
The measure to which the Goethe
association objects seeks to counter
act the ruling of the supreme court.
1t provides that adults may legally
take offense" at pictures, books.
etc. which they consider a menace to
youth. The term normal person" is
replaced by ''person," and the pro-
vision of the existing law requiring
that criminal intent be shown is
dropped.
DR.. Fulda, as well as the speakers
who followed him at the protest meet
ing, declared that the proposed law
would put all Germans into the
nursery" 1t constituted an unrea-
sonable guardianship of adults in its
efforts to guard children. 1t would
mean that works of art would be
judged from the viewpoint of the inn
mature, and that would mean in turn
that art would be throttled. The
Goethe association, said DR.. Fulda,
was also interested in the welfare of
lnt Soulu anu III AItil pApN''NAoi
against evil influences, but this was
the work of the family. The unripe-
ness of youth must not be made the
standard for judging work of art.
Defenders of the proposed law de-
clare that, apart from the recent
postcard .confiseations. which are
generally admitted to have been
rather ludricrous exhibitions of mis-
used zeal, both pictorial and literary
art have extended protection in Ger
many. The new law, they point out
is chiefly designed to do away with
immodest exhibitions in shop win
dows.
A very considerable number of ar
fists in Germany maintain that there
is no possible subject which a paint
er or sculptor cannot properly handle
If his work is artistic, they declare, it
must be free from interference, no
matter what subject is represented.
Tire views of this school were re-
Gently summed up by a satirical
writer as follows:
"The test of whether painting is
a true work of art is this: II. when
you look at it, it causes no evil
thoughts, that proves that 1t is
work of art. If 1t does cause evil
thoughts, that proves that you are
hog"