Lithographic poster advertising the "Degenerate Art" (Entartete Kunst) exhibition in Munich. Munich: Max Schmidt & Söhne, 1936. German.
A propaganda poster for the Nazi exhibition on modern art ("Degenerate Art"), designed as a parody of El Lissitzky’s renowned 1919 work Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge (Russian: Клином красным бей белых!). Design: Hans Vitus Vierthaler (signed in the plate).
Lissitzky’s original poster – one of his most iconic works – was published during the Russian Civil War, depicting a red triangle penetrating a white circle (symbolizing the Red Army’s victory over the White Army). The present poster features an almost identical design, but with reversed colors: the triangle is black (representing Nazi Germany), and the circle red (representing Communist Russia). Beneath the illustration is the phrase: "Was wir in dieser interessanten Schau sehen, wurde einmal Ernst genommen!!!!!" [what we present in this exhibition was once taken seriously – a paraphrase of the motto displayed at the First Dada Exhibition in Berlin (1920): "Take Dada seriously." Exhibition details and opening hours printed at the bottom margin.
"Degenerate Art" was the name of a traveling exhibition organized by Nazi authorities, displaying approximately 650 confiscated works by some 100 modern artists. The exhibition aimed to mock and condemn what the Nazi regime deemed degenerate and perverse in modern art. Among the artists featured were Lissitzky, Picasso, Munch, Chagall, Kandinsky, Matisse, and others. Ahead of each exhibition, the Nazis disseminated propaganda materials, including posters and explanatory booklets.
Approx. 30X20.5 cm. Good condition. Creases and minor blemishes. Professionally restored, with color touchups.
