Cultural Identity in the Life and Work of Artists Who Fled Nazi Germany
Research Question
What influence does exile have on the artistic strategies of visual artists in times of terror and dictatorship?
Project Description
This research project explores the artistic strategies of visual artists who went into exile during National Socialism. These strategies will be studied by editing the correspondence between two artists who fled Germany because of their political conviction. George Grosz (1893-1959), a leading figure of Dada and New Objectivity emigrated to New York, and Herbert Fiedler (1891-1962) sought refuge in the Netherlands.
In their correspondence, they wrote open-heartedly about their views on politics, arts, and literature in the Weimar Republic, the Netherlands, and New York. Their exile led to an ambiguous relation with both their homeland and their new environment. The process of identity formation and its relation to artistic production will be investigated.
Selected Publications
1) Gregor Langfeld, ‘The Canon in Art History: Concepts and Approaches.’ In: Journal of Art Historiography, nr. 19 (December 2018), 1-18.
2) Gregor Langfeld, ‘Art by Exiled Germans in the Stedelijk Museum.’ In: The Stedelijk Museum and the Second World War, red. G. Langfeld et al. Amsterdam: Bas Lubberhuizen en Stedelijk Museum 2015, 76-99.
3) Gregor Langfeld, German Art in New York: The Canonization of Modern Art, 1904-1957. Amsterdam University Press 2015.