Well, at least Hitler was a good painter

Another Nazi exhibition 

This is the catalogue from the ill-reputed 1937 Nazi art exhibition “Entartete Kunst”. This edition includes both the original German text and an English translation.

The point of the exhibition was to condemn modern art as “degenerate”, “Jewish” and “Bolshevist”. The catalogue only shows a few of the artworks subject to public ridicule. About half of the accompanying text consists of excerpts from speeches by Adolf Hitler. The Nazi leader (who, ironically, was a former painter) declares that modern art is prohibited, and that henceforward only art serving the needs of the “German people” will be allowed.

The attacks on modern works of art as “Bolshevist” are particularly ironic, since Stalin didn't promote such art either. Neither did the Zionist movement, making the “Jewish” accusation equally problematic. The Nazis were genocidal butchers, but their opposition to degenerate art was shared by most other political movements at the time, and also by the general public. Yet, “Entartete Kunst” is constantly being pushed by the literati as some kind of ultimate example of Nazi perfidy. I think it tells us more about the pundits' bad taste in art…

That being said, I don't regard this slender little volume as *that* interesting, so I only give it two stars. But sure, it's probably a must have if you're a student of modern art forms.