ART FOR NO ONE. 1933–1945

Between 1933 and 1945, the National Socialist regime controlled artistic work in Germany. Particularly artists who were persecuted based on their religion, descent, or political views fled into exile due to threats from the government. But what happened to the artists whose art was defamed by the National Socialists and nevertheless remained in the country?

In the extensive survey exhibition ART FOR NO ONE. 1933–1945, the Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt is showing the different strategies and scopes of action that were employed by artists in Germany who did not seek or find any affiliation to the National Socialist regime. Based on 14 individual case studies and about 140 paintings, sculptures, drawings, and photographs the exhibition sheds light on the diversity of art, that existed outside of the official art of the regime, but remained without an audience. The show includes works by Willi Baumeister, Otto Dix, Hans Grundig, Lea Grundig, Werner Heldt, Hannah Höch, Marta Hoepffner, Karl Hofer, Edmund Kesting, Jeanne Mammen, Ernst Wilhelm Nay, Franz Radziwill, Hans Uhlmann, and Fritz Winter.

Isolation, lack of an audience, and limited exchange impaced the work of the artists who were deprived of a working basis and livelihood in National Socialism. Their situation is often described in a generalized way as “ostracism” or “inner emigration.” However, due to the concrete personal circumstances, these terms require closer examination.

“ART FOR NO ONE is a special title for an exhibition that is just as special. The indication of the time period 1933–1945 makes it clear that with this exhibition we have dedicated ourselves to a chapter in German (art) history that is as complex as it is challenging. While many artists in exile have been the subject of examination in recent years, the work of nonconformist artists who stayed in Germany has hitherto been given insufficient consideration. We have difficulty dealing with them still today. By presenting ART FOR NO ONE. 1933–1945, we would like for this cautious skepticism to give way to a new, interested perspective, thus making an important contribution to understanding the art of those years. The Schirn is thus once again spanning a bridge from the first half of the twentieth century to the present,” according to Dr. Philipp Demandt, Director of the Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt.

Against the backdrop of their public defamation or the confiscation of their works as part of the campaign and exhibition “Degenerate Art,” artists developed various strategies to work artistically, generally out of the public gaze and under adverse conditions. The exhibition shows that apathy, standstill, and hopelessness were not the only things that defined the work of artists active at this time. Focusing more intently on one’s own oeuvre, exploring existential themes, and adapting content were just some of the reactions to the totalitarian National Socialist art policy.

The curator of the exhibition, Dr. Ilka Voermann, explains: “The artists who remained in Germany during the National Socialist regime do not make it easy for us to categorize them. Attention so far has been given to them in only a few projects, and it has hardly been possible to learn anything about their inner disposition. Their art has remained insufficiently visible up to the present day. A critical examination of the individual biographies is therefore that much more important in order to arrive at a differentiated picture of this epoch. The ostracism of these individuals often had considerably less to do with their art than with their heritage, homosexuality, gender, or political position. It thus becomes that much clearer that the contrasting narrative of ‘conformist’ and ‘degenerate,’ which ultimately goes back to the National Socialist cultural policy itself, fails to do justice to the life realities of many artists. Every classification, every exclusion, every scope of action must be differentiated and considered more closely from case to case.”

The exhibition ART FOR NO ONE. 1933–1945 is funded by the Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain GmbH. Additional support is provided by the Georg und Franziska Speyer’sche Hochschulstiftung.

A catalog edited by Ilka Voermann has been published in a bilingual edition (English and German) with a preface by Philipp Demandt and contributions by Eva Atlan, Peter Chametzky, Verena Hein, Karoline Hille, Ina Jessen, Cathrin Klingsöhr-Leroy, Kathleen Krenzlin, Marie Oucherif, Olaf Peters, Carmela Thiele, Ilka Voermann, and Martina Weinland.

A free digital tutorial guide, the Digitorial, is available online here.

Director: Dr. Philipp Demandt
Curator: Dr. Ilka Voermann, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt
Press contact: Julia Bastian (Interim Head of Press/Public Relations): presse [​at​] schirn.de / T +49 (0) 69 29 98 82 148
Press material: schirn.de/en/newsroom