Neue Sachlichkeit: “New Objectivity” in Weimar Germany
September 21, 2004 - December 18, 2004
Ubu Gallery presented an exhibition of paintings, drawings, photographs and prints, which explored a movement that, while defining an era, still defies definition. “Neue Sachlichkeit” or “New Objectivity” can be seen as a return to “realist” traditions provoked by the subjectivity of Expressionism and emotional emptiness of non-representational movements, which led to disenchantment in artists’ circles throughout Germany and its satellites during the height of the Weimar era. Emerging primarily in provincial cities during the turbulent years that followed World War I, New Objectivity sought clarity and definition through “matter-of-fact” observation of material reality. The movement’s aim was straightforward, but the lack of a cohesive ideology or specific aesthetic confounds any precise characterization of Neue Sachlichkeit. Ubu’s exhibition presented works from the many groups associated with Neue Sachlichkeit, including the “Cologne Progressives,” the “Hannover Realists,” and the “Young Rhineland” so as to address the full measure of its tendencies.
ARTISTS
Max Beckmann, Hans Bellmer, Karl Blossfeldt, Gottfried Brockmann, Heinrich Maria Davringhausen, Rudolf Dischinger, Otto Dix, Ernst Fritsch, Carl Grossberg, George Grosz, August Heitmüller, Heinrich Hoerle, Karl Holtz, Karl Hubbuch, Hanns Kralik, Franz Lenk, Jeanne Mammen, Otto Möller, Ernest Neuschul, Gerta Overbeck-Schenk, Herbert Ploberger, Anton Räderscheidt, Max Radler, Franz Radziwill, Albert Renger-Patzsch, Franz Roh, August Sander, Christian Schad, Rudolf Schlichter, Georg Scholz, Franz Seiwert, Eddy Smith, Niklaus Stoecklin, Max Unold, Bruno Voigt, Karl Völker, Nicolai Wassilieff, Erich Wegner, Kurt Weinhold, and others
RESOURCES
Exhibition checklist
Press release
A catalogue produced in conjunction with the exhibition is available for purchase at the Ubu Gallery shop.
PRESS
The New York Times / Art Review / October 22, 2004 / Roberta Smith / 2 reproductions
The New York Times / The Listings / October 29, 2004 / Roberta Smith
International Herald Tribune / “The Mockery of Wit” / October 23 – 24, 2004 / Roberta Smith
The Brooklyn Rail / ARTSEEN / November 2004 / Valery Oisteanu / 1 reproduction
The New York Sun / Arts and Letters / December 9, 2004 / David Cohen / 1 reproduction
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS AVAILABLE FROM THE UBU GALLERY SHOP
Neue Sachlichkeit: New Objectivity in Weimar Germany
Helmar Lerski, Lichtbildner: Fotografien und Filme, 1910-1947
SELECTED WORKS FROM THE EXHIBITION
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