The new Berlin, 1912-1932

Berlin - a cosmopolitan, mythical, artistic hotspot, and the capital of the first German democracy - was synonymous with artistic pluralism during the interwar period. In Berlin, at a crossroads between East and West, art was closely linked to an everyday reality that was marked by crisis, social change, and decadence, but also by a short period of prosperity known as the « Golden 1920s ». It was a city where artists often painted a gloomy reality, despite the hope of a revival and a desire for peace after the First World War. Based upon the specific example of Berlin as the cultural metropolis of the 1920s and on the various links between the Belgian and German art scene, this book pays special attention to politicised art and the urban challenges between 1912 and 1932, when the « new » was in vogue.

Max Beckmann, Rudolf Belling, Otto Dix, George Grosz, Raoul Hausmann, Hannah Höch, Wassily Kandinsky, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Kazimir Malevich, Jeanne Mammen, Sasha and Cami Stone ... these and many other creative minds represent the key movements of this gripping period.