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Four sculptors symbolize the circumstances imposed by the political and social systems prevailing before and after 1945.

In an effort to supplement and broaden the scope of the FÜHRER’S CAPITAL OF CULTURE exhibition, the Landesgalerie analyzed the political and social conditions prevailing in 20th-century Linz. At the centerpoint were four very different sculptors and their work before and after 1945: Ernst Barlach (1870-1938), Ludwig Kasper (1893-1945), Josef Thorak (1889-1952) and Fritz Wotruba (1907-1975). Original works and documentary films imparted a historical overview and a feeling for what it was like to be an artist at the time. How did their works relate to the framework conditions imposed by the respective systems? Consideration of the circumstances of each artist’s life and how each man’s oeuvre has been received by art historians and critics was accompanied by a multifaceted analysis of their work during the Nazi era and beyond. A major archive containing publications and documentation about the artists, about what the Nazis referred to as degenerate art, and about the 1st documenta that was dedicated to artworks excluded from the National Socialists’ conception of culture combined with a consideration of these four sculptors’ works to yield an exemplary and highly instructive account of the interrelationship between politics and art in the 20th century.

In conjunction with the exhibition, Bibliothek der Provinz http://www.bibliothekderprovinz.at/ published a volume of texts by Martin Hochleitner, Volker Probst, Susanne Rolinek, Gabriele Stöger-Spevak and Helga Thieme.


WHAT // Exhibition
WHEN // September 18-November 16, 2008
WHERE // State Gallery Linz

IDEA / CONCEPT // Martin Hochleitner, Volker Probst, Susanne Rolinek, Gabriele Spindler, Gabriele Stöger-Spevak, Helga Thieme