Sabine Brantl Book order

For the Haus der Kunst in Munich, addressing its past began immediately after World War II, with the building reopening as an exhibition space in 1946. Since 1995, the institution has actively explored this history, presenting findings to visitors in various formats. The seventy-fifth anniversary of its opening in 2012 prompted a renewed examination of the complex historical processes that shaped the Haus der Kunst, culminating in the extensive exhibition titled Histories in Conflict: The Haus der Kunst and the Ideological Uses of Art, 1937–1955. This richly illustrated volume covers key historical moments marked by the rise of National Socialist ideology and the subsequent transition to a democratic state. During this period, the content orientation of the Haus der Kunst underwent significant changes, laying the foundation for its evolution into an international exhibition venue. Today, it plays a crucial role in contemporary art discussions. Histories in Conflict documents the historical developments amid political and cultural transformations, highlighting international parallels. Influential exhibitions, such as the 1937 World Exposition in Paris, the Venice Biennials, and the first documenta in 1955, provide a framework for understanding the international context of this narrative.

Today, Haus der Kunst is one of the most renowned international locations for positions in modern and contemporary art. At the same time, the House contains reminders of the disastrous combination of art, politics and propaganda in the »Third Reich«. Designed in 1933 by Hitler’s favourite architect, Paul Ludwig Troost, to present »German art«, »Haus der Deutschen Kunst« (»House of German Art«) was the first showcase monumental project arising from Nazi propaganda that became a backdrop used effectively by the National Socialist rulers for their self-staging in the media. Until 1944, this was where the annual exhibitions of the art favoured by Hitler were held. While artists such as Arno Breker, Josef Thorak and Adolf Ziegler and their oversized paintings and sculptures glorified the blood and soil cult propagated by the National Socialists, the works of today’s classical modernism and their creators such as Oskar Kokoschka, Wassily Kandinsky or Paul Klee were vilified as »degenerate« and pilloried.