Currents Winter 2021 Vol 37, No. 3 | Page 32

Here you can learn about cultural events throughout the city , including museums , film showings , live theater & art galleries

In Hamburg

Here you can learn about cultural events throughout the city , including museums , film showings , live theater & art galleries

Herr und Dame ( im roten Saal ), 1911 , oil on canvas , 73 x 88 cm Hamburger Kunsthalle , Dauerleihgabe der Stiftung Hamburger Kunstsammlungen © Nolde Stiftung Seebüll Photo : Elke Walford
Gaut der Rote , 1938 , oil on canvas , 100.5 x 74 cm . © Nolde Stiftung Seebüll Photo : Fotowerkstatt Elke Walford , Hamburg , and Dirk Dunkelberg , Berlin

How Does a Bad Man Make Good Paintings ? Two Exhibitions Showcase Emil Nolde BY HOLLY T .

With his colorful , primally gestural paintings a far cry from the traditionally classical art prized by the Third Reich , Emil Nolde ( 1867-1956 ) was a poster child for what Hitler condemned as “ degenerate art .”
In 1968 , Siegfried Lenz made Nolde ’ s story the basis of his novel German Lesson ( Deutschstunde ), and , aided by this international bestseller , the artist came to epitomize the suppressed creative victim of Nazi Germany . In 2014 , it was discovered that the artist himself had fueled this myth and that in fact Nolde was a staunch Nazi and anti-Semite . At the time of a Berlin exhibition documenting the deception in 2019 , Angela Merkel removed two well-known paintings by Nolde from her office .
Exhibiting Emil Nolde ’ s art these days has become tricky business . So it is somewhat surprising that two concurrent Nolde exhibitions are showing in Hamburg at the moment . Both of these nicely focused shows address aspects of Nolde ’ s art deserving exploration . I Usually Prime with Chalk … at the Hamburger Kunsthalle , which literally sheds light on Nolde ’ s painting techniques , is the more nerdily scientific . Yet here we
32 In Hamburg