Hamburg Secession
The Hamburg Secession ( secession = split off, separation) was founded in 1919 as an artistic secession group. The artists' association had around 55 members, including architects and writers . It dissolved itself in May 1933 under pressure from the National Socialist regime. In 1945 the Hamburg Secession was re-established , which dissolved again in 1952.
Climate Improvement for the Arts and Elite Association
The aim of the association was to improve the climate for the fine arts in the commercial Hanseatic city. For example, the artists repeatedly criticized the lack of artist cafés, such as in Munich or Paris , that there were no meeting places for those working in culture. There was also no academy for training artists in the city. The first director of the Hamburger Kunsthalle , Alfred Lichtwark , had complained that many talents turned their backs on their hometown for training and then never returned to the Hanseatic city. The Secession wanted to address the problem through a variety of cultural activities: exhibitions, lectures, readings, and artist festivals. Last but not least, she also wanted to be an association of high-ranking artists, with a certain amount of self-confidence she claimed nothing less than to represent the elite of Hamburg's artists.
The relatively late founding date of the Secession is relevant in that the members of the group were already cured from the First World War . The enthusiasm for war that many male Expressionist artists first fell victim to and which plunged many into existential crises (such as Max Beckmann ) has not existed in the Hamburg Secession from the start. Unlike the “ Brücke ” in Dresden , the Hamburg Secession did not have a fixed theoretical agenda, as was not the case with the “ Der Blaue Reiter ” editorial group in Munich . This manifested itself in diverse annual exhibitions, in which the works of the members as well as the works of the most important modern artists of the time were exhibited (for example Klee , Picasso , Kandinsky , de Chirico , Braque ). The standards for the admission were the orientation towards modern styles and a high artistic level.
The first exhibition of the Hamburg Secession opened on December 14, 1919 in the Hamburger Kunsthalle. With one exception, an exhibition followed annually. In addition, the Hamburg Secession established contacts with similar artists' associations in other cities. This resulted in an exhibition of Hamburg Secessionists in Nuremberg in 1927 at the invitation of the Nuremberg Secession . The last exhibition of the Hamburg Secession was closed by the police on March 30, 1933 by order of an agency belonging to the Reich Propaganda Ministry from Berlin . It was the first exhibition closure by the National Socialists , which was to be followed by a number of others.
In addition to the exhibitions, a series of lectures on all cultural areas were held, with speakers such as Rosa Schapire , who was also a literary member of the Secession, Max Sauerlandt , Karl Kraus and many others. In addition, the Secession also offered architects the opportunity to present their work. This overall cultural approach corresponded with the ideas of the Bauhaus , which was founded at the same time in Weimar , but the approach of the Hamburg Secession was less systematic, nor was it intended. At the same time, the projects by the group's architects are also up to date. The type furniture of member Karl Schneider z. B. are absolutely comparable with the furniture concepts created at the same time in the Bauhaus or in the group “ Das Neue Frankfurt ”.
The Hamburg Secession was a member of the Hamburger Künstlerverband Kartell , which was founded on February 20, 1929 and whose president was the writer Hans Henny Jahnn . The cartel was an amalgamation of all free artists in Hamburg to form an umbrella organization. Members of the association were the Hamburg Secession, the Hamburg Artists 'Association , the Hamburg Artists' Union , the Writers 'Protection Association in Northwestgau , the Association of Hamburg Composers , the Reich Economic Association of Visual Artists and the Altona Artists' Association .
Secession style
In the early years one could hardly speak of a specific Hamburg secession style. In the works, however, the influence of the most important artistic trends of the time is reflected. Expressionism prevailed until the mid-20s , after which most members discovered the New Objectivity for themselves.
In the late twenties, under the influence of Edvard Munch's work, some younger painters (e.g. Rolf Nesch , Eduard Bargheer , Karl Ballmer , Karl Kluth ) developed a new style, which is characterized by rounded contours and cursory summaries of people and Landscapes. The color scheme is reserved, with subdued blue and gray often dominating. In recent research on the Hamburg Secession, this style is called the Secession Style .
Artist festivals
Several members of the Hamburg Secession (in particular Emil Maetzel , Fritz Kronenberg and Otto Tetjus Tügel ) played a key role in organizing the Hamburg artists' festivals every year . In addition, from 1928 onwards, the Secession held its own festival called Zinnober . The freedom of movement of these festivals, which are also popular outside of the art scene, but above all the blatant criticism that was publicly exercised against National Socialist representatives here, may have been the reasons why the spring exhibition of 1933 was the first exhibition in Germany to be held at the instigation of the National Socialists - after whose takeover - was closed.
time of the nationalsocialism
A short time later, the Hamburg Secession was asked to expel the Jewish members. The members of the association responded to this request on May 16, 1933, by dissolving the group by themselves, converting the association's assets into champagne over a joint drink . Many of the artists experienced the bitter fate of those years in the period that followed: professional bans , ostracism, emigration , prison. Some died “voluntarily” ( Anita Rée , Alma del Banco ) others died in camps or in prison ( Johannes Wüsten ). The survivors often had to cope with the destruction of a large part of their life's work in bombed-out studios during the air raids .
post war period
The Hamburg Secession was re-established on June 11, 1945 . At the beginning of November the first post-war exhibition took place in Ernst Hauswedell's rooms . Further exhibitions followed. The efforts to revive and further develop the secession were nevertheless doomed to failure, because most of the more object-oriented artists found it difficult to assert themselves in the art world , which saw the future of art creation in the Informel . In 1952 the Hamburg Secession dissolved again.
Members of the Hamburg Secession (selection)
literature
- Hamburg's creative artists in need - formation of a cartel Hamburg artists' associations , Altonaer Nachrichten , March 18, 1928, p. 7 ( digitized version )
- The Hamburg Secession, 1919–1933 , exhibition catalog from Galerie Herold, Hamburg, Hamburg 1992
- Helmut R. Leppien: The Hamburg Secession in the Bunte collection , in: The Hermann-Josef Bunte collection . Painting around 1900. Special services of classical modernism. The Hamburg Secession. The new realism . Edited by Heinz Spielmann, Hamburg, Cismar 1996, pp. 16-18
- The Hamburg Secession . Exhibition catalog, Hamburger Sparkasse, Hamburg 2003
- Friederike Weimar: The Hamburg Secession 1919-1933 , Fischerhude 2003, ISBN 978-3-88132-258-4
Web links
- Literature from and about Hamburg Secession in the bibliographic database WorldCat
- The beginnings of the Hamburg Secession : Text for the exhibition Art of the Twenties in Hamburg 2004 in the Hamburger Kunsthalle
See also
- Hamburg artist club
- Hamburg artists' association from 1832
- Hamburg artists
- Altona artists' association
Individual evidence
- ↑ Maike Bruhns : marginalized avant-garde: Beckett in the artistic circles of the former Hamburg session . In: Michaela Giesing, Gaby Hartel, Carola Veit (all three eds.): The Raubauge in der Stadt - Beckett reads Hamburg , Wallstein Verlag , Göttingen 2007, ISBN 978-3-835301931 , p. 101
- ^ Richard Tüngel : The Hamburg Secession . In: Die Zeit , April 24, 1947