Having not seen this exhibit, I can't fully judge what it's full message or impact is.
However, I think that we do need to understand the influence that Nazi Germany had on world culture and design, and how those influences have been downplayed over time. For example, everyone loves the Volkswagon Beetle (so cute!), but it originated in Nazi Germany for use in their military. How were these cars assembled - did the company use slave labor from concentration camps? And assuming they did, how does this change your perspective of the car?
Much like American plantations - yes they are beautiful places, but they were built by slave labor, and those slaves lived in horrific conditions. Does it change the fact that the plantation is beautiful? No, but it does alter one's perspective when viewing them.
I hope that this is what this exhibit does - make you reconsider your world view. And I also hope it points out how easy it is for the general population to ignore atrocities that are being committed in their own backyard as well.
I'd like to see some pictures of the exhibit, along with the plaques that explain what the viewer is looking at.
85
I can’t see how this can be of value.This will just enhance Naziism whose Evil has deep roots in Europe, and has risen throughout Europe.
14
Part of the "cultural context" of this exhibit is that food and drink should be prevented from entering anywhere near the site. How many today remember that the Nazi "program" for the Netherlands was mass starvation? Millions suffered and no fewer than 20,000 died.
36
The irony of that era is that much of its design was gorgeous. We know, tragically, the human outcomes, but the decade of the 1930s produced everything we think of today as modern: streamlined buildings, cars, radios; modern advertising styles with photography, illustrations and fonts we use today; well engineered and designed cars, highways, signs, airport terminals. The way people dressed and groomed themselves before the war is what we think of as elegant today. The music of Bach and Wagner, the processional marches based upon Catholicism, consumed by people trained to obey authority, all of it was marshaled to bring people together under the banner of hatred.
The evil of Nazism used the seduction of design to pull in supporters.
Today we use ugliness, disfigurement, blasphemy, graffiti and dissonance as our weapons of liberalism and tolerance, and I wonder how successful that will ultimately be.
65
@Harding Dawson I agree. There is so much in the lifestyle of nazi Germany that resonates with me. Clothes, cafe life, and most of all the intentional relationship between mind, body, and nature. The practice of medicine was wholistic and there was Freud, such rich curiosity about the child, early education, and development. Frankly, it’s all very disturbing. I agree.
21
OK, let's have this exhibition. But, let's add some perspective e.g. some (faux) starved corpses dressed in concentration camp stripes scattered around the museum's floor. This would place the true value and meaning of this "art" in its proper context.
64
The Volkswagen may have been a symbol of Nazi "achievement" for the people, yet, according to historian Ian Kershaw, not one Volkswagen was ever delivered to a private buyer (and many had put up deposits) during the Nazi regime. The entire production went to the military.
20
Controversial but record breaking! Would that have been the curator's objective? To show that he is capable of drawing the most attention to his museum, by optimising the shock value?
8
I don't see a problem here other than a few people trying to remain ignorant of good design that happened to be created while a madman was in power. Shall we ignore all a American design from 2016 until who knows when?
36
@mons
This is an excellent example of a false analogy. Hitler directed what happened in the design and artist studios of his era. Trump does not. And much as I despair over Trump, he is not comparable to Hitler. "The League of German Girls Dancing" is not art nor is it design, given what its subject actually is.
How anyone can consider the exhibit in question to show "good design" is beyond me.
37
Blueprints of the Auschwitz ovens are art?
51
If we do not study and learn from the powerful and compelling imagery of National Socialist design, we cannot possibly grasp the impact and appeal of such movements. Speer, Goebbels and Reifenstahl were tools of an incredibly evil state, but they were also highly creative individuals with enormous resources at their disposal. To disregard the effectiveness of their work is to short-change ourselves. The same can be said of Italian fascist propaganda art, which is on permanent display at the National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome. Seeing Mussolini portrayed as a knight in armor astride a noble steed gives one great pause.
63
If I had any authority with the museum, I would have not allowed this show.
9
@Kay Sieverding
Well sadly you don't. Don't like the exhibit? Don't go. This is history not all of it is pretty. Get used to that.
43
Disturbing news and topic, but excellent article. Thank you, Nina. Keep it coming.
37
We need to at least try to separate the curator's senseless comments about "feminine" museums from this powerful exhibition. I resent the former but must express appreciation for the ambition of the later.
The Nazi regime used design in incredibly powerful ways. They drove custom Mercedes-Benz cars, wore Hugo Boss tailoring and had gifted cinematographers produce their propaganda films. It's not hard to see why so many people were swept up in the hysteria.
A few years back there was a lecture at Yale from an art historian about the urban planning projects of the Third Reich, and what the Nazis planned to do with Berlin after they won the war. It was fascinating and said a lot about the way they saw themselves in a historical continuum (references to Rome's architecture were frequent). That too generated knee-jerk outrage and protests. The lecturer - like this museum - in no way apologized for or supported the Nazi ideology but merely (and correctly) pointed out that their powerful design work merits study.
Examining the success of Nazi propaganda might help us detect it today, especially as right-wing nationalism is creeping up all over the Western world. The comments from the curator are not helping this cause. A pity, because I would find this exhibition fascinating and believe that we could all learn from examining the success of remarkable design work used for horrible ends.
169
@Solaris
What a cogent response and it's too bad people can't grasp the reality of what once was.
35
Despite claims that the works are accompanied by explanations of the underlying viciousness of the Nazi regime, it seems this exhibit will mostly be glorifying this horrible movement. And I say this from the perspective of a straight male
19
I have always been curious as to what people with unlimited resources build. Things like the pyramids, Nero's Golden House palace, Louis XIV's additions to Versailles, and Hilter's now destroyed Chancellory and never built grandiose plans for Berlin. Too much of the last was merely building something large for the sake of being large such as a triumphal arch greater than that in Paris, a hall longer than the Hall of Mirrors, and a rather gross and clumsy looking domed structure. Nero's work was so over the top that it was stripped and buried shortly after his death.
The Nazi use of style has contributed to their mystic to this day. The Olympic rings and torch relay were their inventions. The Sea of Flags with massed banners appears in US patriotic ceremonies despite the connection with Albert Speer. The visual arts can have a power impact when used for political purposes.
49
In 1994 we watched The Architecture of Doom, a documentary claiming that it was a prime nazi "ambition to beautify the world though violence". The documentary focuses on the tempting narratives and visuals German propaganda employed. To understand that temptation, Peter Cohen displays quite some nazi aesthetics - 'designs' - exposing the audience to it. The documentary also provides the necessary historic context - hopefully the Dutch exhibition does as well.
18
Very beneficial because it underscores the penetration of Nazi ideology during the occupation of Holland when the NSB movement of collaboration with Hitler was in the ascendancy until 1944. Not every Dutch citizen was bravely resisting during the occupation.
in my town in Pennsylvania an NSB family settled in the nineteen fifties to pretend that they had not collaborated with Hitler during World War II but every so often it was possible to see the cracks in the veneer that they put on their life. This exhibit likewise indicates ambiguity, complicity and massive guilt.
24
The very title of this exhibit "Design of the Third Reich" - makes me think the museum has already missed the mark. How about "The path to Evil: Art and design in the Third Reich". I am reminded of the very powerful exhibit curated by the National Holocaust Museum: "State of Deception: The Power of Nazi Propaganda" (most of which was communicated through Nazi posters/art). That exhibit made plain how art and design can be linked to propaganda and evil and how it can manipulate people. I am not sure (even after reading the museums web site) that the Dutch exhibit makes this link.
67
"What is mandatory in these kinds of engagements is that you can’t show these kinds of works without making critical links to the present.”
This is true. The exhibit should be showing how the Nazi posters, drawings and photos correspond to what is being demonstrated by the far right today - and the correspondence is closer than too many people are reluctant or afraid to admit. But to see the stark similarities you have only to read quotes from populist leaders, look at signs carried by demonstrators, listen to the speeches, watch far-right followers shout their hatred at rallies while virtually displaying the Nazi straight-arm salute.
That is what context means, and that's what this exhibit lacks, and de Rijk engages in oh-so-typical far-right excuses, inverting arguments by critics against those who make them, when he tries to convince us otherwise.
This exhibit is not so much to educate the public as it is an exhibit of his own fascistic worldview. It's all about him, and paradoxically he himself provides a bit of the crucial context missing from his exhibit.
34
I find it interesting that the Dutch museum industry is purportedly dominated by women and homosexual people. The American curatorial and director scene is mostly men.
24
The Trump reelection campaign is currently organizing field trips to the exhibit.
26
This exhibit is not inherently wrong, but without context, visitors will likely be unable to comprehend its effectiveness and vile outcomes.
This is esp. worrisome in a country like Holland that has never completely come to terms with its role in the Holocaust - only some Dutch helped the Dutch Jews who, unlike much of the rest of the Dutch, suffered much more greatly.
20
The Nazis tried to arrogate to themselves the oak as a quintessential German tree? I guess I should not be surprised at the Nazis' nerve. But they had to answer to the British and the Royal Navy, who claimed the oak as their symbol long before Germany became a unified country. (See: "Heart of Oak," the official march of the Royal Navy.) And the RN backed up that claim, in the Battle of the Atlantic, in which the "Hearts of Oak" of the Royal Navy put a lot of holes in the Nazis' ambition to rule the world. (Not forgetting for one minute the massive sacrifices and the overwhelming contribution of the people of the then-USSR in defeating Nazi Germany.)
18
@Bladefan
What a relief to know --- thank you for that information! My home is full of oak furniture, and my neighorhood has many oak trees. I would have hated to have to put that "asterisk" in my mind about oak as a result of the Nazis' preposterous hijacking of that beautiful, ubiquitous tree as their symbol. The Nazis should have taken the oak worm as their symbol and inspiration.
7
“Never hide something away and deny it. Understand it. That’s my message.”
I think he may have something there because if you drag something out into the daylight, then it can be seen in all its ugliness and viciousness. It can be talked about, it may lose some of its power to terrify, to influence. I'm not sure something like Nazi ideology can ever truly be understood, but it can be a beginning.
I went to the Documentation Center museum in Nuremberg when I was there in 2018; it was very grim but necessary viewing. I think this exhibit could be the same.
13
But by its very title (mild and non-contextualizing as it is), the Dutch exhibit and its venue, an ordinary art/design museum, fails to convey much grimness at all. The omission must not be brushed aside as unintentional, especially from a man who clearly has little compunction about harboring and expressing bigoted attitudes himself.
20
If only there could be an antisemitism detector as visitors walked through the museum doors, with a big red lever on a meter that dings louder the more hate a visitor has in his heart. Only then could we know for sure if Rijik's exhibit was a 'success'.
8
Why, all of us must ask, is this particular exhibition happening at this specific point in history, in Europe, in a country in which numbers Jewish people in the professions, in the 21st century, feel they must hide their Jewish identity lest they face discrimination or worse (and this, predating the Arab Spring and all that followed).
As an art and design-oriented person and a moderate person, I don't say this lightly: It makes me want to vomit.
19
Missing are photos of the concentration camps showing bodies meticulously stacked like fire wood. Without such photos this exhibition shows "the wrong message".
39
I believe in freedom of speech and expression. These objects need to be seen for whatever reason, art, history? But it is important that this show does not glorify the Nazi era, and it seems like it doesn't. Great idea to not allow selfies! Good grief!
Anyway, whenever I hear about this new populism in Europe I think of Israel and it being a "Jewish state". The Jews are proud of their heritage and culture and want to preserve it, and so do the Europeans want to preserve theirs. Enough said.
5
Except that Jewish Europeans were repeatedly subjugated, deported, and murdered by their Christian European neighbors and countrymen, some of whom became Nazis.
18
The Nazi era architecture was hardly original, what was essentially a knock-off of the Greco-Roman aesthetic, mimicked the same feeling of superiority, grandiosity and solidarity its twin brother—socialist architecture.
It’s not that interesting either, anyone who had visited Berlin could see the Olympia stadium, for example. And those gigantic sinking concrete pillars Albee Speer scattered all over the city to test out that delusional “Germania” dome that they failed to build.
In my humble opinion, art museums are public spaces that walks the fore front of showing us original, nuanced works that are often overlooked and unknown. Curators has an almost sacred responsibility to steer the public discourse instead of causing controversy. There are so many other eras and styles of architecture that could have gotten the spotlight.
One great example of such exhibition was the Hilma AF Klint exhibition at the NYC Guggenheim. An unknown artist in her era making work decades ahead of her time, the show was a great success btw.
It matters who and what the curators chose to legitimize through hosting the work in their space. This feels wrong to me.
11
It's refreshing to see the art world in an uproar over Nazi art, especially the propaganda art. But in the engineering world it's impossible to avoid the technological arts of the Nazis. Can one become a radar expert without studying the Freya radar? Or an expert in jet aircraft engine design without a basic knowledge of the Junkers Jumo 004 engine? Probably not. Many of the things we use everyday were first developed as munitions; some of it by the Nazis.
The story of Wernher von Braun is probably the best documented example of this. During WWII von Braun was a member of the Nazi party, and an Untersturmführer in the SS. Today we know him as the designer of the mighty Saturn V rocket that first sent U.S. astronauts to the moon. But it was a rocket based on cryogenic fuels, much of it developed for the V-2 (German A-4) rocket program.
The technological dilemma that all of this posed was probably not lost on Von Braun himself. Compare, for example, the British documentary film 'Operation Backfire' and the equal opportunity (employment) film he made in 1964 for the Marshall Spaceflight Center. The former is the chilling explanation of how to build a killing machine; the latter the political ideal that all Americans aspire to.
Cites:
Operation Backfire - A4 V2 German Rocket Documentary von Braun
https://youtu.be/80DzifHHIxk
Dr. Wernher von Braun’s Statement on Equal Employment Opportunity
https://youtu.be/aOmHvoE2rMs
17
I’m not against the idea of displaying Nazi art in context, but the curator’s comments are disturbing:
‘Most design exhibits are created by women and homosexuals. Here’s a showcase of Nazi art for real men.’
41
So it begins. Glamorizing the Nazis -- dressing up their cruelty as museum-worthy "art". This is what happened with the Romans (known for gladiator fights, loot-and-kill war campaigns and slavery), who are also idealized by incels and weak men as warriors. I thought we promised as a society that "Never Again", but that requires constant vigilance against any attempt to glamorize or humanize the Nazi party. Shame on Mr. de Rijk.
25
To the curator,
Did you never consider or care about the probability that dissociating the Nazi imagery from its message might (a) be difficult if not impossible (especially since much contains their written or spoken propaganda); and (b) still be taken as a celebration of the Third Reich?
Know that you have directly hurt and re-traumatized real people who lost real people. Not doing that is neither "feminine" (which you ought not use as a derogatory) nor "overly-PC"; it is human and humane, your choice was not.
29
How much "context" for a Third Reich exhibit do the critics think people need?
I guess they want every picture and object to have a disclaimer: "Nazism is evil, don't try this at home." But you have to treat people as adults at some point.
24
Why don't the Dutch museums curate an exhibit of art and design by their Jewish population prior to being sold out to the Nazis?
17
Sorry, Mr. de Rijk, but including a diversity of perspective does not and should not include the perspective that an entire population of millions of human beings should be annihilated.
Your apparent multi-faceted bigotry is repulsive to me and many others; still, we do NOT advocate for the destruction of your body or your soul and those of everyone in your extended family and community. Nor would we celebrate (which is what you are doing or allowing regardless of what you say you intended) art and design that was made to promote or enact such a repugnant crime.
Whoever funded your exhibit and your labor to bring it into being ought take a long, long, honest look in the mirror, and their souls.
16
@Jewish Female
If you mean to apply your thinking on a consistent basis,then how much art will there be left to show, with any national themes, in any event?
Should communist art all be banned? What about Anglo national art, that could be perceived as covering up the injustices of British capitalism and colonialism?
There would be older American art, that does not do justice to numerous people who suffered and died under the American ethos of earlier times.
13
Let's set aside (but not trivialize) the oddly inappropriate comments of the curator. The timeliness of the exhibited items is frightening, over here on this side of the pond. Take, for instance, the red 1932 election poster, which, in and of itself, pretty much sums up MAGA everything. The roaring rage and resentment. The toxic nostalgia. The desire to burn society to the ground. The unbridled affection for power and strength at the expense of democracy. As quoted here, the poster reads "That's enough! Vote for Hitler."
54
The problem we face is that art ie essentially amoral. When it comes to Nazi propaganda art, for example, consider on the one hand Arno Breker and his pompous, inflated and utterly ridiculous statues, with their exaggerated, stupidly off proportions. Then think about Leni Riefenstahl and her brilliant films.
5
Appalling, the tone deafness of art trolls in the country in Europe,the home of Anne Frank, in which the highest proportion of the Jewish population was murdered.
11
Pay close attention to the trumpian/gop propaganda that will be disseminated as the 2020 election moves closer. See how much of it is adapted from hitlerian posters like the one shown in this article of an atlas breaking free of his chains. Just wait.
24
I find it very hard to look at these pictures and find the beauty in them considering the absolute horror and misery associated with them. Any effort to elevate Nazi art in this way is a mistake imho. Look at how well the us has divorced the slave narrative from the “beautiful” plantation homes that are all over the south.
16
I keep two passports issued in Germany in a cigar
box in my closet. Two or three times a year, I look at them.
They belonged to my father and mother.
The penmanship and modern design displayed in them is first-rate.
Sturdy brown covers, thick, expensive paper, sharp, brightly lighted photos, lots of swastikas, very modern typography, official looking stamps and excellent penmanship.
My father’s and mother’s middle names appear in them as Israel and Sara.
Several of the pages are stamped with a large red letter J.
Expertly designed by Hitler's civil servants to impress and intimidate everyone who handles them.
Simply another example I believe of what historians are presently calling “Working Towards the Führer.”
And what we here in America may soon be referring to as “Working Towards The Trump.”
78
Graphically speaking, The Germans are light years ahead of us. The monsters of The Third Reich understood ; image , sound and propaganda. Hollywood should have latched onto a few Germans like the the nascent Nasa did, after the war......
1
@Tony Why wait till after the war? These German and Austrian directors worked in Hollywood 1930s-1940s. Many were exiles. German and Austrian directors in Hollywood 1930s 1940s Ernst Lubitsch, Josef von Sternberg, William Wyler, Fritz Lang, Billy Wilder, F.W. Murnau, Erich von Stroheim
8
Lordy. This hits too close to home. The MAGA people would be all over the 1932 pro-Hitler election poster. It covers most of their hot spots. The toxic nostalgia. The rage and resentment. The desire to burn society to the ground. The white nationalism and white supremacy. The unbridled affection for power and strength at the expense of democracy and tolerance. As noted in the caption, the German means "That's enough! Vote for Hitler!"
47
He is right that the Nazi years need to be examined. Fascist art has power. It was created to move the masses. The real horror of propaganda is that it works.
28
Hitler was supported by Rohm who was gay and had gay men supporting exercising their strength to support nazism. Hitler had him assassinated after he failed to kill himself in jail. HItler had his village destroyed as well as his past. Hitler never owned a gun, of course died after his dog Blona died of cyanide poisoning as did Hitler, who also had Jewish dna
5
One of the keys of Nazi propaganda was that it operated through its appeal to emotion. This means that providing “context “ to the exhibition is not an adequate safeguard. Displaying these materials today risks having the same effect as when they were first created. In this fraught period, no respectable institution should host such an exhibit.
50
True. And we should ask (and NYT should investigate): who funded this exhibit, and why? And from where and whom did all of the exhibited items come, and why were they saved and collected?
16
An article which references the radical right in the Netherlands and which rightly warns of the scourge of antisemitism can nevertheless be faulted for omitting the extreme and widespread hostility to Muslims there. When you bring up Geert Wilders in the context of far right politics, you really have to focus on the hatred of Muslims that forms the crux of his support. Wilders and his followers have expressed admiration for Israel even as they spew racist invective against immigrants, mainly Muslims. The far right have largely redirected their hate to a more vulnerable population in the Netherlands, a development that should be highlighted in accounts such as this.
9
I feel like our President Donald Trump has imposed his own “brand” of visual propaganda on the American public since before he was elected to office. It is both garish, grandiose, scary and tiring. By extension the Republican Party has stooped to a new low with images, videos, and the flyover banners of the Democrat debates in Houston ( I was there .) Visual communication is a powerful tool and we are very much in the trenches today. What ruins this exhibit beyond the curators own remarks is the utter lack of contextual background. We are under siege in a world smothering in a profusion of ugly, hateful and destructive visual propaganda.
12
An important exhibition to enhance propaganda literacy. Kudo to Mr. de Rijk to engage and not back down in the face of the propaganda of either right or left.
Museums, in general, have been infected with the propaganda of the liberal progressive movement (oh, it can't be propaganda because we're right!). No matter if your alt-right or progressive, understand how you are being manipulated. It is our only hope.
7
What is this Western European/liberal American fear of their own history? Other race embrace their history and achievements including made-up ones while whites abandon theirs.
Take China’s first emperor Qin Shi Huang for example. He killed millions in his conquest of the other six warring states and burned old books and buried alive 460 scholars that his old book or refused to use the new writing system. Yet he also unified China’s coinage, measurement, roads, writing system and link up existing walls into The Great Wall. China wouldn’t be one state without him.
Western European/liberal American cannot seem to process the dichotomy of white nationalism. Anything that promotes whiteness is seemed at bad even though many great work and achievements were the result of such pursuit. The only solution seems to be condemning and banning. It get to the point that Western European/liberal American are condemning foreign non-white countries for using images inspired by white nationalism.
7
If someone said museums were "too masculine," would anyone complain? If someone said museum designers were "too cis hetero," would anyone complain?
The leftist thought police are always on the patrol for any violation of non-PC speech. I remember when liberal thinkers recoiled at any restriction on speech, and viewed non-conformist thoughts as liberating. Now a person must walk a narrow path lest they run afoul of someone being offended.
17
I haven't been to the Den Bosch museum, but from the photos here it looks like a typical white-walled "neutral box" kind of place, like so many others—meant to induce a reflective, cool-headed, or meditative state of mind.
That's not exactly bad, but it seems out of scale with the impact of the subject. Maybe we need another kind of space that encourages more emotional expression, a hybrid between museum and temple?
Works like these, with their horrific subject matter, should be presented in a way that let's people safely feel the full force of ocean-sized feelings.
1
When I was a boy in the aftermath of WWII, TV was saturated with war movies and documentaries featuring footage of Hitler and his henchmen and the now infamous rallies such as the ones in Nuremberg. Some of my friends and I were fascinated by the uniforms, and salutes, and the synchronization, and yes, "design" of these events. In fact, callow youth that we were, we were so fascinated that we made red armbands with swastikas for ourselves and went about goose stepping and giving Nazi salutes. When my father, who had fought the Nazis in Italy during the war, discovered our antics, I got a good talking to and was sidelined and confined to the yard for several weeks.
My point in telling this story is that these "design" motifs were/are extremely powerful. No knowledge necessary of what they represent. Even though these TV broadcasts showed things from the American/Allied point of view, the power of the images portrayed made a greater impression than the explanatory commentary. This is the power of art and design. Therefore, it is dangerous to assume that a mere explanation will automatically put things in the proper perspective. Can we really expect children, or even impressionable young adults, to come away with a nuanced view? I don't know the answer. But one thing I do know is that this is dangerous stuff which should be presented with limits and kid gloves.
81
@SC
Best comment yet IMO, thank you. Something of the same happened with me, but I got woke when I read a book entitled "The Scourge of the Swastika," published in 1957 and written by a Nuremberg judge. It was one of the first in-depth looks at the Holocaust, so "ahead of its time" that the word didn't appear in the book, as I recall.
So yes, there needs to be "context" included for the benefit of the impressionable young attendees at this exhibition.
19
At a time when culture is undervalued (and staving off massive cuts/closures), bringing in a paying crowd is a real and needed goal. While I'm not sure how much de Rijik is serious about what he spouted in his media interview, it certainly created a buzz and is bringing in the crowds.
I don't expect to see the exhibition, but hope that it provides context to both the historical events and impetus for evaluating the contemporary reality.
16
Arm with the knowledge of history, look at it, face to face with it and see how these were used to motivate certain ideology. It's the people that gives symbols meanings. I appreciate the controversy because it brings more dialogues in this uncertain time.
19
Problem is: those words and images STILL motivate people to hate and worse.
21
In arguing that museum curators tend to be gay or female, de Rijk referred to his plea for "balanced representation of perspectives," saying, "I simply argue for a more diverse discourse."
As a straight man, I'm offended. I can't offer a perspective on Nazism to "balance" those of professional museum curators who happen to be women or gay.
Whenever someone tries to include straight men in the name of diversity, everyone, including straight men, should be alarmed.
119
@Jim U
de Rijk pointed out there were no male museum director for over 10 years. Would you say there is a lack of diversity and representation if Congress is all male or female for 10 years straight?
9
@Jim U. "Effeminate" does not mean "gay"
6
@Jim U I'm a straight man, and I'm not alarmed.
6
For those who wonder what makes a museum feminine (or masculine):
The Guggenheim Museum in NYC is feminine.
Houston’s tall monument at San Jacinto Battleground, essentially a copy of the Washington Monument but a bit taller, with a museum in its base, is masculine.
There are other examples, but you get the idea.
12
@Mon Ray, uh, no.
8
@Mon Ray, I beg to differ. The Guggenheim is , most assuredly, masculine. Sensitive, yes and without question. Feminine, no. Now the Lincoln Kiristen Center............or any Phillip Johnson works defy 'easy ' definitions, tho "sterile" springs to mind.
4
It is, and should be, a learning experience. Hiding this type of stuff is not effective as a means for changing public opinion.
34
There's lots of propaganda art/design that's technically and compositionally proficient. The best examples of it should be in museums.
That said, I don't think I could walk out of an exhibit like this without feeling dirty, uncomfortable, and depressed.
97
@Matt
Very true. Triumph of the Will and Birth of a Nation are landmark innovations in filmmaking, but are literal expressions of horrifically racist and hateful ideologies. A lot of Speer's public spaces and architectural works are aesthetically awe-inspiring, but of course that's the point, isn't it? To impress the power of the state and its ideology onto all who lay eyes upon it. Victor Hugo ascribed a similar power to architecture in his work a century before.
14
@Matt
Oh my, indeed. Propaganda is like leaving a bowl of candy out on a table. On purpose. Tainted candy, but candy no less.
6
@Matt
If you feel something the exhibition would have achieved its goal right? Would you prefer a bland PC museum that made you feel nothing?
14
Seems like an interesting exhibition.
50
I'm curious what makes the design of a museum "feminine." Is the building shaped like a uterus or something? What does a "masculine" museum look like? The lad has taken leave of his senses.
135
@Nick For those who wonder what makes a museum feminine (or masculine):
The Guggenheim Museum in NYC is feminine.
Houston’s tall monument at San Jacinto Battleground, essentially a copy of the Washington Monument but a bit taller, with a museum in its base, is masculine.
There are other examples, but you get the idea.
6
@Mon Ray This doesn't really explain any difference.
5
@Mon Ray, your "analysis" is so simplistic that it's beyond absurd. If you were in my beginning art history course, you'd get an "F" for that silliness.
17
couple years back i did visit the WW2 museum in New Orleans.
A high light was an exhibit on German propaganda...Powerful stuff.
25
A vanquished WW One country uses design and propaganda to foster feelings of superiority, and hate. What is the lesson?
That an educated nation can quickly devolve into committing inhuman acts? That educated people can quickly become cogs in the world's most productive killing factories?
75
This is a design exhibition not a political exhibition.
24
Art is political by itself as it operates within a broader context. This is certainly even more the case for propaganda art, as it has an - avowed - political and ideological objective.
Think harder.
43
@Paul
Art is political, and the Nazis took that to the extreme.
8
Mr. de Rijk complains that museum designers are too feminine, and that some are even (gasp) "homosexual", while mounting a show of design work from Nazi Germany bent on displaying the virility of a Germany unleashed by National Socialism?
What could there be to protest?
103
Mr. de Rijk says, "Radical right-wing movements of today are hardly interested in Nazi aesthetics and symbolism..."
What?
They are forever fascinated with it. Not simply with the swastika symbol but also with the Nazi aesthetic of grandiosity, might, dominance, exclusivity and superiority. White supremacist, fascist and nationalist web sites show off more than an echo of this old Nazi aesthetic.
This exhibition strikes me as being a truly bad idea implemented at precisely the wrong time. Sometimes the art world gets so full of its own precious brilliance that it winds up doing some of the dumbest things.
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@S Jones, don't blame other museums, led by responsible, astute curators, or artists themselves, for this particular exhibit and its shortcomings. It seems to be a bit shallow in its approach to the display of the subject matter. But most world-class museums would not stumble into these problems. This one seems to be less carefully considered than it could have been ...
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@S Jones I could say the same for the left and Communist/Stalinist symbols and aesthetics.
I am however highly fascinated with both, mostly because it is so alien to me and to the Germany I know today. Along with the alien world of Communism.
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Art was appropriated, like everything else-- identity, history, institutions-- for Nazi propaganda.
Clearly, aspects of that propaganda and those designs are
still being used to sow division and inflame hate.
Neatly separating the design elements from
the propaganda elements?
Impossible.
Good luck with your masculinization project.
I agree that taking selfies with swastiksas
and posting them on social media is the "wrong message",
but what, precisely, is the "right" one?
Appreciating the architectural designs for Auschwitz
on their aesthetic merit?
You poor, misguided man.
Bring on the feminists.
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About 32 years ago, I took a history course on the Spanish Civil War. Our professor said that Franco was allied with Hitler and he allowed the German Luftwaffe to practice their blitzkrieg tactics on rebels.
We also saw "Triumph of the Will", a Nazi propaganda movie from 1935. Seeing those people with total adoration for Hitler was very frightening: I see the same thing today at Trump's rallies.
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@Phobos
I remember the first time I saw Triumph of the Will. Gave me nightmares.
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@Phobos Isn’t that what Guernica is about?
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@Phobos Adoration was not what made the Nazis unique though.
I would disagree that the same level of adoration exists, as Trump has never been close to as popular as Hitler in 1934.
I would also say, just because someone has a core of adoring followers, does not make them the same as every other person/politician that has a core of adoring followers.
Some Republicans tried to use this same argument against Obama....
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Photo_Caption: "...League of German Girls Dancing During the Reich’s Party Conference,” a photograph by Hugo Jaeger, featured in “Design of the Third Reich” at the Design Museum Den Bosch..."
Phew!!
...For a moment, I thought I was looking at another Trump Rally!!
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Sure, disaffected youth--keep adopting White Nationalist tendencies and policies, just remember who we hung at Nuremberg. The Nazi Officers--the ones who directed all of this. I think we are going to need a lot more rope this time.
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@Daniel
With a rising China and re-aligning world order, that extra rope might be for you. Empires come and go throughout history. America will be no different.
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Great exhibition!.
Same goes for the german band Rammstein. Their last song "Deutschland" was misunderstood by many because they do not understand German. The lyrics are actually quite critical of Germany.
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