Art is Political: The “Degenerate” Art Exhibition

85 years ago, a groundbreaking art exhibition was held in Munich. It showcased the work of 120 artists, many of these internationally renowned modernists. The show was attended by one million people in its first six weeks.

But this landmark show, while one-of-a-kind, is not something to be celebrated. Entartete Kunst (‘Degenerate Art’) was organized at the behest of Adolf Hitler, under Joseph Goebbels' Ministry of Propaganda, to showcase works of art that “undermined” the ideals of the Nazi regime.

The term ‘degenerate’ is making a comeback in contemporary discussions of non-traditional art and culture. The sinister undertones associated with the term could easily be missed by this generation, but to label subversive art forms ‘degenerate’ is a dangerous act. Today on Art of History, we unpack how the term was weaponized, sometimes literally, against avant-garde artists in Hitler’s Reich.

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