Beyond Grosz

James Panero | The New Criterion | 1st May 2025

Germany’s Expressionist movement used shrill colours and bold forms to convey the anxieties of urban life. But defeat in war, a failed monarchy and a failed Weimar republic yielded tumult and a view that expressionism was “overly aesthetic”. Artists like Beckmann, Dix and others responded with “New Objectivity” art that was technically more traditional, yet pitiless and brutal.  Soon to be called degenerate, it portrayed a Germany losing its collective mind. “It is impossible not to see a ticking alarm clock”.