Modern masters
Subtitle: "degenerate" art at the Kunstmuseum Bern
By: edited by Matthias Frehner and Daniel Spanke
Contributors: Kunstmuseum Bern
Publisher: Kunstmuseum Bern; Prestel
Published: 2016
Language: eng
Number of pages: 376
ISBN-13: 9783791355368
Subjects: Art; Exhibitions; Kunstmuseum Bern; Art treasures in war; Entartete Kunst; Modern Art; Cultural policy; Collectors and collecting; History
Other titles: Moderne Meister. English.
Description: Kunstmuseum Bern, the oldest museum in Switzerland, turns its gaze toward its own acquisition history in this lavish book that features artistic masterpieces considered worthless by the Nazis, and the stories of how they came to Switzerland. As a result of the Nazi regime's scorn for modern art, virtually all non-traditional art between 1933 and 1945 was banned in Germany on the grounds that it was un-German, Jewish, or Communist in nature. Those identified as "degenerate" artists were dismissed from teaching positions and forbidden to exhibit or to sell their works. This book sheds light on the historical significance and provenance of nearly 525 works by modernist greats, such as Picasso, Chagall, and Kandinsky, which were acquired by the Kunstmuseum Bern through a combination of auctions and private donations. The book traces the fates of artists who suffered under the Nazi regime and who had connections to Switzerland, including Kirchner, Klee and Dix, and contrasts the cultural policies of the Third Reich with those of Switzerland in the same period. Finally, it details the dramatic events and unprecedented efforts that went into preserving invaluable works of art.
Notes: Translation of: Moderne Meister : "Entartete" Kunst im Kunstmuseum Bern.

"This catalog has been published in conjunction with the exhibition ... April 7-August 21, 2016, Kunstmuseum Bern"--Page 374.

Includes bibliographical references.