Glitter and Doom
Encyclopedia
Glitter and Doom is the name of a Special Exhibit formerly shown at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
featuring portrait art
of Germany from 1919-1933, between the World Wars when the Weimar Republic
was in political power. This Special Exhibit was shown from November 16, 2006 to February 19, 2007.
Life in the Weimar Republic was marked by massive hyperinflation
, crippling poverty
, and political upheaval. The massive number of orphans and widows without a means of feeding themselves resulted in prostitution
on a scale not seen before in Germany. Additionally, the repeal and relaxation of laws forbidding prostitution, homosexuality, and other 'moral vices' led to an explosion of an underground culture, with people enjoying pursuits not available in other European Cities.
Themes of the works include sexual freedom, prostitution
, poverty
, war profiteering
, disfigurement
and decay, homosexuality
, and transvestites.
The exhibition was organized by Sabine Rewald, Jacques and Natasha Gelman Curator in the Department of Nineteenth-Century, Modern, and Contemporary Art.
The works of this exhibit can be found in the book Glitter and Doom, by Yale University Press
.
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
featuring portrait art
Portrait painting
Portrait painting is a genre in painting, where the intent is to depict the visual appearance of the subject. Beside human beings, animals, pets and even inanimate objects can be chosen as the subject for a portrait...
of Germany from 1919-1933, between the World Wars when the Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
was in political power. This Special Exhibit was shown from November 16, 2006 to February 19, 2007.
Life in the Weimar Republic was marked by massive hyperinflation
Hyperinflation
In economics, hyperinflation is inflation that is very high or out of control. While the real values of the specific economic items generally stay the same in terms of relatively stable foreign currencies, in hyperinflationary conditions the general price level within a specific economy increases...
, crippling poverty
Poverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
, and political upheaval. The massive number of orphans and widows without a means of feeding themselves resulted in prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
on a scale not seen before in Germany. Additionally, the repeal and relaxation of laws forbidding prostitution, homosexuality, and other 'moral vices' led to an explosion of an underground culture, with people enjoying pursuits not available in other European Cities.
Themes of the works include sexual freedom, prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
, poverty
Poverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
, war profiteering
War profiteering
A war profiteer is any person or organization that profits from warfare or by selling weapons and other goods to parties at war. The term has strong negative connotations. General profiteering may also occur in peace time.-International arms dealers:...
, disfigurement
Disfigurement
Disfigurement is the state of having one's appearance deeply and persistently harmed medically, as from a disease, birth defect, or wound.Disfigurement, whether caused by a benign or malignant condition, often leads to severe psychosocial problems such as negative body image; depression;...
and decay, homosexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
, and transvestites.
The exhibition was organized by Sabine Rewald, Jacques and Natasha Gelman Curator in the Department of Nineteenth-Century, Modern, and Contemporary Art.
The works of this exhibit can be found in the book Glitter and Doom, by Yale University Press
Yale University Press
Yale University Press is a book publisher founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day. It became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but remains financially and operationally autonomous....
.
Artists shown in the Exhibit
- Max BeckmannMax BeckmannMax Beckmann was a German painter, draftsman, printmaker, sculptor, and writer. Although he is classified as an Expressionist artist, he rejected both the term and the movement...
- Heinrich Maria DavringhausenHeinrich Maria DavringhausenHeinrich Maria Davringhausen was a German painter associated with the New Objectivity.Davringhausen was born in Aachen. Mostly self-taught as a painter, he began as a sculptor, studying briefly at the Düsseldorf Academy of Arts before participating in a group exhibition at Flechtheim's gallery in...
- Otto DixOtto DixWilhelm Heinrich Otto Dix was a German painter and printmaker, noted for his ruthless and harshly realistic depictions of Weimar society and the brutality of war. Along with George Grosz, he is widely considered one of the most important artists of the Neue Sachlichkeit.-Early life and...
- George GroszGeorge GroszGeorg Ehrenfried Groß was a German artist known especially for his savagely caricatural drawings of Berlin life in the 1920s...
- Karl HubbuchKarl HubbuchKarl Hubbuch was a German painter, printmaker, and draftsman associated with the New Objectivity.Hubbuch was born in Karlsruhe. From 1908 to 1912, he studied art at the Karlsruhe Academy, where he formed friendships with fellow students Georg Scholz and Rudolf Schlichter...
- Ludwig MeidnerLudwig MeidnerLudwig Meidner was a German expressionist painter and printmaker born in Bernstadt, Silesia. He was apprenticed to a stonemason, but the apprenticeship was not completed. He studied at the Royal School of Art in Breslau and, from 1906-07 at the Julien and Cormon Academies in Paris where he met...
- Christian SchadChristian SchadChristian Schad was a German painter associated with Dada and the New Objectivity movement. Considered as a group, Schad's portraits form an extraordinary record of life in Vienna and Berlin in the years following World War I.- Life :Schad was born in Miesbach, Upper Bavaria, to a prosperous...
- Rudolf SchlichterRudolf SchlichterRudolf Schlichter was a German artist and one of the most important representatives of the Neue Sachlichkeit movement....
- Georg ScholzGeorg ScholzGeorg Scholz was a German realist painter.Scholz was born in Wolfenbüttel and had his artistic training at the Karlsruhe Academy, where his teachers included Hans Thoma and Wilhelm Trübner. He later studied in Berlin under Lovis Corinth...
- Gert Heinrich WollheimGert Heinrich WollheimGert Heinrich Wollheim was a German painter associated with the New Objectivity, and later an expressionist who worked in America after 1947.-Life and work:...
- Brandy Carstens
In the media
- WNYC Public Radio, the Leonard Lopate Show, Monday, January 29th 2007, with mp3 interview featuring Sabine Rewald