Splendor and Misery in the Weimar Republic: From Otto Dix to Jeanne Mammen

As the first German democracy, the Weimar Republic (1918–33) is indelibly associated with crisis and transition, bridging as it did the fall of the German Empire and the rise of the totalitarian regime of National Socialism. Numerous artists at the time portrayed these years through an array of ironical, grotesque, and critical-analytical works, many of which also aimed to challenge the status quo and bring about social change.
            This innovative volume portrays the fight for democracy in the Weimar Republic as seen by more than sixty artists, from Otto Dix and George Grosz to Dodo, Jeanne Mammen, and Christian Schad. From the glamor of the Golden Twenties to the dark depths of a world undergoing rapid change, the penetrating content of this volume recreates the age of the Weimar Republic, illuminating big-city life and the entertainment scene as well as controversial topics such as censorship, prostitution, and political corruption. From Berlin to Munich and from Rostock to Hannover, this volume paints a broad and multi-layered picture of the Weimar years, showcasing the era’s art from a uniquely sociohistorical perspective.