tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post7320696216080838083..comments2024-03-28T20:35:00.265+11:00Comments on ART and ARCHITECTURE, mainly: Anti-Fascist Art Exhibition, Melbourne 1942Helshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-46898134630269141142013-12-18T09:55:35.097+11:002013-12-18T09:55:35.097+11:00Wendy
Just as well I wrote the post and scheduled...Wendy<br /><br />Just as well I wrote the post and scheduled it for the 24/12/13. I have the flu just now and am lying on my bed going "woe is me"... "ring the children and tell them goodbye".<br /><br />I could not get your last url to work. Am I doing something incorrectly?Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-44789959273921152922013-12-17T23:51:08.099+11:002013-12-17T23:51:08.099+11:00Very interesting, I hope you meant the post was u...Very interesting, I hope you meant the post was up and I don't have to wait!! I am immersed in those years, re reading Kershaw's Hey Days, just listened to a recorded interview he did with Hazel de Berg's daughter (NLA). I am particularly looking for any reference to Alannah Coleman, the subject of past research and current biography. Love to know more of what you are looking at in these interesting years.Wendy1947https://www.blogger.com/profile/13074707491800044386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-59383834992777914062013-12-12T12:27:57.661+11:002013-12-12T12:27:57.661+11:00Wendy
many thanks - your timing could not have be...Wendy<br /><br />many thanks - your timing could not have been better. This week I have a scheduled post called "The Angry Penguins: art in war-time Melbourne 1938-45" and in February I am giving a conference paper on Bergner, Tucker, Nolan, Boyd etc.<br /><br />I love blogging and other bloggers :)Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-24556717273863947422013-12-11T15:11:51.855+11:002013-12-11T15:11:51.855+11:00http://digital.slv.vic.gov.au/view/action/singleVi...http://digital.slv.vic.gov.au/view/action/singleViewer.do?dvs=1386734708694~231&locale=en_US&metadata_object_ratio=10&show_metadata=true&preferred_usage_type=VIEW_MAIN&frameId=1&usePid1=true&usePid2=true<br /><br />This is a link to the State Library of Victoria (Australia) facsimile of the catalogue for this exhibition. You mentioned being interested in seeing such a thing. I hope you are still blogging and still interested.<br />I came across this as part of my research into writing about a woman who was a founding member of Contemporary Art Society, friend of Tucker, Nolan etc. Alannah Coleman. She was involved to some extent with this exhibitionWendy1947https://www.blogger.com/profile/13074707491800044386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-14580136690072904392011-11-03T09:31:55.498+11:002011-11-03T09:31:55.498+11:00Mr or Ms Real Estate,
Nod. Deebee said the same t...Mr or Ms Real Estate,<br /><br />Nod. Deebee said the same thing - the east European artists were filled with anxiety and dullness, very depressing to look at as they reflected social, political and economical issues of the time. <br /><br />It certainly was a miserable time, for Europe and the world. The War to End All Wars, followed by a nightmare depression, followed by another catastrophic world war. Even so, the Anti-Fascist Art Exhibition was a brave project to hold in Melbourne in 1942.Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-16678435697943011432011-11-02T18:16:33.946+11:002011-11-02T18:16:33.946+11:00agreed. East European artists WERE filled with anx...agreed. East European artists WERE filled with anxiety and dullness as they reflected social, political and economical issues of their era. I expect they knew their works were tough for audiences to look at.Real Estate Video Adshttp://www.koozzoo.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-7729281107086791072011-09-27T16:17:03.924+10:002011-09-27T16:17:03.924+10:00Amber
Good to hear from you - you are the fourth ...Amber<br /><br />Good to hear from you - you are the fourth person to specifically mention Albert Tucker. And I am not surprised. <br /><br />His years painting in hospital were filled with pain and loss. Then back in Melbourne he was angry, leading to a series of paintings called Images of Modern Evil. I am not sure what he was responding to - current depression? loss of hope for the future? <br /><br />Clearly 1940s visitors were not impressed. Nor were the critics. I suppose it takes a long time for people to catch up.Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-73378789740057750312011-09-27T13:14:56.717+10:002011-09-27T13:14:56.717+10:00I have always loved Albert Tuckers work and after ...I have always loved Albert Tuckers work and after first seeing it in about 1962, I aped his style in all my high school art.Amber Crumerhttp://kzoo.co/RMoooe/blgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-83680104385653070752011-09-25T15:48:16.217+10:002011-09-25T15:48:16.217+10:00jeronimus
isn't that the sad truth. Even toda...jeronimus<br /><br />isn't that the sad truth. Even today, we make desperate refugees feel like criminals, locking them inside isolated prisons or sending them back to their dangerous homelands.<br /><br />I think Picasso was totally apolitical. Not just because he said so but because his closest friend and dealer Kahnweiler said so as well.<br /><br />Talking about American conservatives. Paul Robeson was arguably the greatest singer and most active black man in the USA's history pre-WW2. He was tireless. Yet once the House Committee on Un-American Activities got hold of him, he could just about kiss his career goodbye.Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-1705821885234747432011-09-25T12:39:16.894+10:002011-09-25T12:39:16.894+10:00Very interesting post. Sad to reflect on how littl...Very interesting post. Sad to reflect on how little times have changed. The same kinds of comments about refugees are still being said in Australia. <br />I think Picasso may have been a member of the communist party at one stage, but since he considered his art an act of self-discovery, he was not an ideologue. Simplistic cultural conservatives in the US often bring up Picasso's youthful political sympathies in order to write him off.jeronimushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09099993403604440221noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-83722957703798880102011-09-25T11:01:00.428+10:002011-09-25T11:01:00.428+10:00Emm
good point. Countries like Australia and New ...Emm<br /><br />good point. Countries like Australia and New Zealand made enormous contributions to World War Two, as measured by the proportion of their soldiers killed or permanently wounded. <br /><br />So it was essential, especially once conscription came in and young men were placed on battle fields without volunteering, to explain to mothers why their sons were being taken. Yes a lot of it was blatant anti-German propaganda, but much of it expressed the true conscience of the artists (and writers) involved.Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-50747569639171582012011-09-25T10:48:37.337+10:002011-09-25T10:48:37.337+10:00Hermes
Thank you! I had no idea that _in 2005_ th...Hermes<br /><br />Thank you! I had no idea that _in 2005_ the Tate Modern did an analysis of the Nazi regime’s hostility towards modernist art. The 2005 show must have been like the Degenerate Art show that had started in Munich just before the war.<br /><br />Of course the times were different and the location very different. So with hindsight, were 2005 visitors able to understand the fear that lay behind the Nazis’ 1930s decisions on art? <br /><br />Even now I am struggling to properly understand the fear that modernist art _might have_ overturned traditional values, of its attraction to socialists and free thinkers.Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-11853306813620835862011-09-25T04:09:26.597+10:002011-09-25T04:09:26.597+10:00What a fascinating post. I was especially interes...What a fascinating post. I was especially interested in the Ben Shahn poster as I had never really given much thought to the people <i>not</i> in Europe during WWII and how many must have worked to spread the knowledge of the atrocities going on over there.<br /><br />Thank you for introducing me to the works of Bergner and Tucker. I really like them both (especially Tucker) but then I love art that has strong political or psychological messages.Mandyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11931248631361366673noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-50295488684296027392011-09-25T02:36:59.251+10:002011-09-25T02:36:59.251+10:00Thanks Helen. This is totally new to me and fascin...Thanks Helen. This is totally new to me and fascinating. The Wiki article on Degenerate Art has several fascinating pictures of Nazis at the Berlin exhib and this is interesting at the Tate:<br /><br />http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/aug/16/secondworldwar<br /><br />There is a long reply on:<br /><br />http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview/id/548841.html<br /><br />but this is probably well known to you. But I'm learning loads.Hermeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00968366076064269729noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-78100273259268659682011-09-25T02:24:20.418+10:002011-09-25T02:24:20.418+10:00Hermes
Probably it was the same everywhere. I ima...Hermes<br /><br />Probably it was the same everywhere. I imagine that modernist, anti-Fascist artists and left wing thinkers in Britain would have been facing very similar circumstances as their cousins in Australia. <br /><br />One example that I would love to have seen. The Modern German Art Exhibition, which was held at the New Burlington Galleries in London in 1938, apparently faced a great deal of official hostility.Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-27492287170296549312011-09-25T02:05:26.786+10:002011-09-25T02:05:26.786+10:00Jane and Lance,
What an interesting reply. Why we...Jane and Lance,<br /><br />What an interesting reply. Why were countless hundreds of social realist paintings destroyed in Hungary? Because the Germans thought they were Degenerate and anti-German?Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-71189154394852942302011-09-25T02:02:03.481+10:002011-09-25T02:02:03.481+10:00DeeBee
agreed. East European artists WERE filled ...DeeBee<br /><br />agreed. East European artists WERE filled with anxiety and dullness as they reflected social, political and economical issues of their era. I expect they knew their works were tough for audiences to look at.<br /><br />Sometimes artists presented anti Fascist or anti war works that were very bright eg Albert Tucker's "Victory Girls". But viewers found that painting even more garish and confronting than the earlier anti-Fascist art.Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-10225422592015185712011-09-25T01:55:38.928+10:002011-09-25T01:55:38.928+10:00artlover
Robert Menzies, Lionel Lindsay and other...artlover<br /><br />Robert Menzies, Lionel Lindsay and other conservatives certainly did regard modern art as the art of socialists and pacifists. But how accurate was that? Picasso and Dali weren't socialists and yet they were certainly modernists. Emile Nolde was a paid up member of the Nazi Party, yet he too was a modernist.<br /><br />I agree that Menzies was utterly behind Britain during the war and not at all pro-Nazi. But he seemed to be more offended by leftist politics in Australia than he was offended by Fascism in Europe.Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-12770273227441231422011-09-25T01:50:31.249+10:002011-09-25T01:50:31.249+10:00Annie,
I had often given lectures on so-called De...Annie,<br /><br />I had often given lectures on so-called Degenerate Art, so one day the students said "ok, but what would acceptable art look like?" So I found a list of the paintings displayed at the Great German Art Exhibition, held in Munich 1937. <br /><br />You are quite correct! They were not poor quality paintings but they were bland - fertile women, brave strong men, devout Christian families etc. No wonder far more people wanted to see the Degenerate Art Exhibition, also held in Munich in 1937.Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-3464001487265034742011-09-25T00:01:35.546+10:002011-09-25T00:01:35.546+10:00No real comment but thanks - I can see many names ...No real comment but thanks - I can see many names being pursued. I really try to open my mind to see what these artists were trying to convey.Hermeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00968366076064269729noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-16015088752206034102011-09-24T19:00:13.760+10:002011-09-24T19:00:13.760+10:00Hello Helen:
This is a most interesting account of...Hello Helen:<br />This is a most interesting account of the background to the Anti-Fascist Art Exhibition of 1942. Several of the artists you mention here and show examples of their work are new to us but we are most taken by the work of Tucker and shall be interested to investigate more about him.<br /><br />We often look for examples of social realist paintings here in Budapest but they are remarkably few and far between. Without doubt countless hundreds would have been destroyed but we are still surprised that what was so commonplace for so many years now seems to have almost disappeared.Jane and Lance Hattatthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16831890261259302647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-38575735562888281612011-09-24T19:00:06.550+10:002011-09-24T19:00:06.550+10:00I am always in two minds about contemporary painti...I am always in two minds about contemporary paintings as they tend to 'send a message" when 'classical" pieces seem to just capture a "moment of life". Even if representations of revolutions and massacres were bloody and horrendous in the concept, they were colourful, well balanced and still "attractive" when 20th century's paintings, especially by the east European artists were filled with anxiety and dullness, very depressing to look at as they reflected social, political and economical issues of the time. I think that these artists didn't benefit the exposure that the rest of Europe had, they did not benefit from the Renaissance and their great patrons in the previous centuries as they did in Vienna.<br />A very interesting post again, thank you for shading some more light on this topic.Travel France Onlinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00944836623797085969noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-49635249933619294712011-09-24T17:59:24.156+10:002011-09-24T17:59:24.156+10:00I like the idea that modern art was seen as an exp...I like the idea that modern art was seen as an expression of individual freedom everywhere, as radical and even anarchic. As Europe armed up, modern art was seen as anti-Fascist and aligned with left wing politics (Art Gallery S.Aus). Robert Menzies was not at all pro-Nazi, but he would have had a heart attack if he visited the Anti-Fascist Exhibition.artlover15noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-67767447770433646082011-09-24T14:55:23.220+10:002011-09-24T14:55:23.220+10:00bravo Hels - a great post. I have always loved Al...bravo Hels - a great post. I have always loved Albert Tuckers work and after first seeing it in about 1962, I aped his style in all my high school art.<br />How opposite your illustrations are, when I recall the 'art' promoted by the NAZIs - rosy cheeked grinning uber-aryans, the very ones who would obliterate an entire town.<br />regards, <a href="http://bwican.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow">Annie</a>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com