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History Germany

Art and the German Bourgeoisie

Alfred Lichtwark and Modern Painting in Hamburg, 1886-1914

by (author) Carolyn Kay

Publisher
University of Toronto Press
Initial publish date
Dec 2002
Category
Germany, Criticism & Theory, European
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780802009227
    Publish Date
    Dec 2002
    List Price
    $76.00
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781442671027
    Publish Date
    Nov 2002
    List Price
    $77.00

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Description

In this new study of art in fin-de-siècle Hamburg, Carolyn Kay examines the career of the city's art gallery director, Alfred Lichtwark, one of Imperial Germany's most influential museum directors and a renowned cultural critic. A champion of modern art, Lichtwark stirred controversy among the city's bourgeoisie by commissioning contemporary German paintings for the Kunsthalle by secession artists and supporting the formation of an independent art movement in Hamburg influenced by French impressionism. Drawing on an extensive amount of archival research, and combining both historical and art historical approaches, Kay examines Lichtwark's cultural politics, their effect on the Hamburg bourgeoisie, and the subsequent changes to the cultural scene in Hamburg.

Kay focuses her study on two modern art scandals in Hamburg and shows that Lichtwark faced strong public resistance in the 1890s, winning significant support from the city's bourgeoisie only after 1900. Lichtwark's struggle to gain acceptance for impressionism highlights conflicts within the city's middle class as to what constituted acceptable styles and subjects of German art, with opposition groups demanding a traditional and 'pure' German culture. The author also considers who within the Hamburg bourgeoisie supported Lichtwark, and why. Kay's local study of the debate over cultural modernism in Imperial Germany makes a significant contribution both to the study of modernism and to the history of German culture.

About the author

Carolyn Kay is an associate professor of History at Trent University.

Carolyn Kay's profile page