The gallery of miracles and madness : insanity, modernism, and Hitler's war on art

The Resource The gallery of miracles and madness : insanity, modernism, and Hitler's war on art

Label

The gallery of miracles and madness : insanity, modernism, and Hitler's war on art

Title remainder

insanity, modernism, and Hitler's war on art

Statement of responsibility

Charlie English

Language

eng

Summary

The untold story of Hitler's war on "degenerate" artists and the mentally ill that served as a model for the 'Final Solution'. "Dazzling ... Richly wrought and deeply researched, it's also a salient reminder to beware of pseudoscience."--Susannah Cahalan, author of Brain on Fire and The Great Pretender As a veteran of the First World War, and an expert in art history and medicine, Hans Prinzhorn was uniquely placed to explore the connection between art and madness. The work he collected--ranging from expressive paintings to life-size rag dolls and fragile sculptures made from chewed bread--contained a raw, emotional power, and the book he published about the material inspired a new generation of modern artists, Max Ernst, André Breton, and Salvador Dalí among them. By the mid-1930s, however, Prinzhorn's collection had begun to attract the attention of a far more sinister group. Modernism was in full swing when Adolf Hitler arrived in Vienna in 1907, hoping to forge a career as a painter. Rejected from art school, this troubled young man became convinced that modern art was degrading the Aryan soul, and once he had risen to power he ordered that modern works be seized and publicly shamed in "degenerate art" exhibitions, which became wildly popular. But this culture war was a mere curtain-raiser for Hitler's next campaign, against allegedly "degenerate" humans, and Prinzhorn's artist-patients were caught up in both. By 1941, the Nazis had murdered 70,000 psychiatric patients in killing centers that would serve as prototypes for the death camps of the Final Solution. Dozens of Prinzhorn artists were among the victims. The Gallery of Miracles and Madness is a spellbinding, emotionally resonant tale of this complex and troubling history that uncovers Hitler's wars on modern art and the mentally ill and how they paved the way for the Holocaust. Charlie English tells an eerie story of genius, madness, and dehumanization that offers readers a fresh perspective on the brutal ideology of the Nazi regime

Accompanying matter

technical information on music

Cataloging source

TEFOD

Dewey number

700.94309043

Form of composition

not applicable

Format of music

not applicable

LC call number

N6868.5.N37

Literary text for sound recordings

history

Music parts

not applicable

PerformerNote

Read by Enn Reitel

Transposition and arrangement

not applicable

Context

Context of The gallery of miracles and madness : insanity, modernism, and Hitler's war on art

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Context

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