Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Semester of Degree Completion

1984

Thesis Director

Wolfgang Schlauch

Abstract

With the end of the Franco-Prussian War on January 18, 1871, the German Empire under the leadership of the Hohenzollern king, William of Prussia, was proclaimed in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles. Now Emperor Wilhelm I, Otto von Bismarck, his chancellor, and their staff as federal executives of the Empire possessed important legislative and economic powers. However, the individual states retained rights in some areas such as: education, health services, police protection and some powers of taxation, and in some instances, there was a distrust of the newly organized federal institutions. Consequently, this states' rights concept seemed to have prevented the formation of a highly centralized state and encouraged regional independence. Therefore, when Wilhelm II became emperor of the German Reich in 1888, he inherited a regime that appeared militaristic, authoritarian, and conservative.

This premise is the central focus of my thesis. In spite of the authoritarian structure imposed on many aspects of German society by Wilhelm II, there were dissidents like the artists who developed artists' groups in the Empire that challenged the influence of the Kaiser, his concept of art, and the state-supported art institutions that propagated his views. In addition, I examine the reactions of the artists and their associations to the prescribed artistic tastes imposed by the Emperor and his followers.

Chapter one of the paper provides a sketch of the social stratum of the Empire and of Wilhelm II. It focuses on the Kaiser's view of his responsibility to German art and his influence in the field of art. Finally, the chapter discusses the role of the state art institutions that the Kaiser supported.

The purpose of chapters two and three is to consider the development of those artists' associations which challenged the status quo in German art institutions. These include: Munich Secession, Berlin Secession, Phalanx, New Artists' Association Munich, Blaue Reiter, and Die Brücke. In addition, I discuss those cities, Munich and Dresden, which provided an atmosphere for artistic dissent, as well as, the uniqueness of diverse art associations and their special schools. Second, an attempt is made to explain the reasons for dissolution of and the impact each group had on the development of the succeeding artists' associations.

In the conclusion I comment on Expressionism as a challenge to the Emperor and the state-supported art institutions. However, the discussion is limited to an explanation of the artistic spirit that inspired the avant-garde of Expressionism rather than following the development of the movement and its many facets.

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