The exhibition brings together works from the Neue Nationalgalerie, Germany’s national museum of 20th-century modern art, featuring over 70 paintings and sculptures. It highlights the ways art and politics intersected from the final years of the German Empire, through World War I, the Weimar Republic, the rise of Nazism, the Holocaust, and World War II.
“Germany had a vibrant art scene before and after World War I, and museums actively acquired some of the most innovative works of their time,” said Tom Rassieur, John E. Andrus III curator of prints and drawings. “When the Nazis came to power, many of these modern works were labeled ‘degenerate’ and removed from museums. Artists responded, sometimes in a political manner and often in deeply moving ways. The period from 1910 to 1945 continues to resonate today, offering important lessons about the power of art in times of upheaval.”
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The exhibition is organized into six thematic sections:
- Expressionism: Emotionally charged works from before and during World War I, including Ernst Ludwig Kirchner’s Self Portrait with a Girl (1914–15) and Emil Nolde’s Pentecost (1909).
- New Objectivity (Neue Sachlichkeit): Sober, precise paintings of the 1920s reflecting the liberal Weimar era, with works by Christian Schad and Curt Querner.
- International avant-gardes: Pieces by Pablo Picasso, Fernand Léger, Oskar Kokoschka, and portraits of German art dealers who introduced European modernism.
- Modes of abstraction: Bauhaus-influenced works by Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, and Oskar Schlemmer, shaped by Cubism and other international movements.
- Politics and war: Art documenting Germany’s political turmoil, from George Grosz to Wilhelm Lehmbruck and Horst Strempel.
- Before and after: Works by exiled and “degenerate” artists, including Max Beckmann’s Self Portrait in a Bar (1942) and Salvador Dalí’s Portrait of Mrs. Isabel Styler-Tas (1945).
“This exhibition offers a rare opportunity to see how artists reflected and resisted the forces shaping Germany during the first half of the 20th century,” said Katie Luber, Nivin and Duncan MacMillan director and president of Mia. “Mia has long been committed to exploring art’s power in times of change, and with our strong holdings of German art from this period, we are uniquely positioned to present this story to our visitors.”
Exhibition details
- Title: “Modern Art and Politics in Germany 1910–1945: Masterworks from the Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin”
- Dates: March 7–July 19, 2026
- Location: Target Gallery, Mia
- Admission: $20 for the exhibition
Organized by the Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin, and the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, the exhibition is accompanied by a 240-page catalog featuring essays, a timeline, detailed entries for individual works, and contributions from leading German scholars.
