modern art and utopian ideals

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Utopian Artistic Ideals and Degenerate Art

The painting Sacred and Profane Love , circa 1514 painted by the artist Titian explores the difference between the sacred and the profane . This was one of the early conflicts of morality against the more carnal aspects of humanity . This example of the two sides of love is also a representation of the multi-facetted ideals to which humanity has attempted to conform that would show itself in the pre-War years Idealism and Utopia (the term used by Karl Marx to describe the perfect

br world ) have been much exalted in modern times , but in the same way as this painting never really consolidates the two co-existing loves Utopia never really succeeds . In this we explore the idea of Degenerate art (what the Nazi 's considered to be unacceptable and primitive art forms ) as a Utopian ideal as well as the political avenue that modern art took prior to the Second World War . We look specifically at the Paris Universal Exhibition of 1937 as an example of this idealism

Shortly before the Second World War , Surrealism had had an enormous effect on how art was viewed . So much so that the thought processes of people became the art , rather than merely a visual artifact . Deeply affected by Freudian psychology , their methodology was to appeal to the unconscious and called together all those who were interested in expressing this part of the human mind (Durozoi , 2002 : pp 63-74 . The ideals of Surrealism were that the artist painted not what they thought was real but uncontrolled emotional or dream-like patterns . The secret or key to this was to let go of all binds that keep one locked into the real life (Durozoi , 2002 : 63 - 74 .Andre Breton , the father of Surrealism was surprising idealistic in terms of who he considered to be true Surrealists : it was not enough to be outrageous or eccentric , one had to in fact `hear the surrealist voice (Durozoi , 2002 : 63-74 . That voice was soon to be drowned out by Expressionism , with the exception perhaps of Salvador Dali . This did in fact pave the way for an even more troubled movement that came under the attack of the Nazi regime Expressionism , Fauvism and Cubism

The sacred and the profane are two very important terms to consider Nazism quickly spread its cold hand over the artistic world and by 1933 certain terms were spoken in relation to anything `Jewish , `degenerate and `Bolshevik (USF , 2005 . In 1937 Nazi officials purged Germany of all `Entartete Kunst (degenerate art , taking 650 works across Germany in to show exactly how degenerate art had become (USF , 2005 Among the artists who were either exiled or banned from exhibiting were the most famous German Expressionists : Chagall , Ernst , Marc , Klee and Kandinsky (USF , 2005 . The two German Expressionist movements most affected were Die Blaue Reiter and Der Brucke (the blue rider and the bridge . German officer Goebbels searched every public and private collection in Germany and it was...