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EMILY DRAUS

THE BERLIN SECESSION

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{The Berlin Secession was a movement of artists} that sought to change the perception of art in Germany.

{The Berlin Secession[1] is a German artist group founded on May 2,1898. As the antithesis to the hitherto dominant academic art industry, it has become the leading art association at the latest since the transfer of Munich artists, which today is stylistically referred to as Berlin Impressionism and occupies an outstanding position in German impressionism.}

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  The Berlin Secession was an artistic movement founded in Germany on May 2, 1898, with the intention of demonstrating art that was contradictory to typical standards set by the academy. The movement was considered a part of German Modernism, and was in part thanks to the boom of growth in Berlin at the time, as well as addressing the need for alternative groups within the artistic community.

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1. History

1.1 Rise and Reign of the Secession

{The upheavals that led to the formation of the Berlin Secession} (delete this part ->) and other groups of artists {began in 1891 on the occasion of the Great International Art Exhibition in Berlin. A dispute began after the commission of the Association of Berlin Artists rejected images done by Edvard Munch(Reworded this). In May 1898, under the leadership of Walter Leistikow, Franz Skarbina and Max Liebermann, various artists converged to form a "free association for the organization of artistic exhibitions" (edited date and wording).} This group was governed by a President, Max Liebermann, and a Secretary, Walter Leistikow, along with an executive committee. At the time of it's inception, there was a total of 65 members, including both men and women as full members. All those involved in the Secession followed a constitution that defined terms of involvement in the group, and nothing could be changed without a three-fourths majority from the committee. {The Free Union of the XXIV was founded in Munich and exhibited under this name in Berlin.}

There were a variety of causes that led to the break in German art.

{In November 1892, a scandal occurred when an Edvard Munch exhibition was closed by a majority of the members of the Association of Berlin Artists. They described Munch's as "repugnant, ugly and mean". Other artists in favor of Munch, however, were not yet organized enough to leave the established exhibition system of the Academy.} (I removed the first sentence to this paragraph because I couldn't find any information on it and it was hard to even understand grammatically and made some edits to word choice to improve flow. I also removed the last sentence because it either repeats what was previously written, or isn't wholly pertaining to the Berlin secession.)

{Later, in 1898, the jury of the Great Berlin Art Exhibition rejected a landscape painting by the painter Walter Leistikow. Now the proof was finally provided that the "modern art" of the rising artists had no support from the Academy. This was the final act of momentum needed to organize the secession. The president at the time, Max Liebermann,} gave some demands to {the Secession at the Great Berlin Art Exhibition in 1899.} He asked that the secession receive quality space, no less than 8 rooms worth, with an independent jury and committee. However, the demand was refused on the grounds of having excessive conditions for such a small group. After delegations, a compromise was met, still favoring independence from the rest of the exhibitions, but fewer rooms. (Deleted a good portion of the middle as it also repeated what was already said. Added some more context for the Libermann demands.)

The split in German art was, incidentally, extremely well-accepted in the political sphere. There had been unrest in conservative groups towards the mixture of art in the annual salon. They believed immoral art should not be mingled in the same space as more traditional art, and they criticized the inclusion of foreign artists. However, they didn't outright demand their removal, only that they be given their own space to display work. This thinking lined up incredibly well with the wants of the Berlin Secession modernists, and made the split an easy transition for politics.

{On May 19, 1899, an exhibition of 330 pictures and graphics and 50 sculptures was opened in Charlottenburger Kantstraße.} At this time, {foreign contributions were still missing. The audience of 2000 invited guests were impressed and the exhibits were perceived as overcoming the prevailing mediocrity.} The event was attended by those of high social standing as well- the audience not only contained the head of the salon, Max Koner, but the President of the Royal Academy, which helped it be perceived as a surprisingly respectable gathering. (Added a reference and edited flow.

{At the second exhibition, the international claim was honored, of which 414 exhibits were over ten percent of foreign artists, including Pissarro, Renoir, Segantini and Whistler. This baffled nationalist circles, so that a conservative minority separated again until 1902 from the Secession. In addition to the summer exhibitions, there were also winter exhibitions reserved for graphics under the title "Black and White Exhibitions". At the 1902 exhibition, works by Kandinsky, Manet, Monet and Munch were shown for the first time. For the first time, the trend showed that Berlin Munich declined the rank of art metropolis Germany. When Germany wanted to participate with art in the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904, failed to reach an agreement of the Commission to Anton von Werner and the Emperor with the Berlin Secession.} (Minor grammatical changes and added source)

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1.2 Conflicts and Splits

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(There is a section in the body in the subcategory "1915 to 1934". None of this has a source, it only vaguely pertains to the article, it interrupts the overall flow, and I can't find any information to confirm nor deny it's existence. I will be deleting this section in it's entirety, and replacing it with the section below.)

1.3 A National Influence

The Berlin Secession was extremely successful after the incident at the Saint Louis International Exposition. The recognition they developed for themselves allowed their influence over German art to increase, bringing the term 'German Impressionism' into use. This was the style that was most closely associated with the Secession. It also allowed the middle class of Berlin to get a foothold into German art, as the liberal ideals of the movement opened doors for those of a lower class to learn new vocations within the art world. Even those who opposed the viewpoint of the Secession members benefited from their existence. Art created in opposition to the movement also had it's own brand of popularity.

However, that being said, the Berlin Secession capitalized well on the division between perspectives. The most popular artists at the time were almost all associated with art that didn't fit in the traditional mold of the Academy. The power in the Secession was the fact that it allowed multiple styles to exist in the same space- unlike the Academy, which demanded only one to be adhered to. Journals like Die Kunsthalle, that wrote in opposition to the Secession, went out of business.

The Emperor, up until this point, had either let the Secession work as it will, or mildly supported it. He viewed change as a good thing, and it had been politically beneficial for him to allow it to develop. Nonetheless, he constantly attempted to interfere with matters like the jury of the salon, which caused conflicts in the art community. While having little power in many aspects of the governing of an autocratic society, the Emperor did have some influence in the cultural sphere. This made him an important factor in the Secession's public and financial success.

(This is a new section of the text that I've added to improve flow and add more about the success of the secession.)

{1.5 Berlin Secession} During {National-Socialism}

{The First World War} created a {negative impact on the Secession. The cultural policy} during {the period of National Socialism led to a lasting damage that made the once influential artists' association meaningless.} (Edited grammar)

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1.4 Lasting Effects and Jewish Influence

The Berlin Secession opened cultural, political, and class doors that paved the way for Germany to have, briefly, a spot in the artistic limelight before WWII. While being mostly associated Modernism, it created a space where later Expressionists could integrate themselves into, even after the dissolution of the Secession members. Many of the patrons and artists were of wealthy Jewish decent, and while they were specifically targeted during WWII, the ideas they shared during the Secession have survived long after. The Berlin Secession also had leaders within the Jewish community, like Max Liebermann, who was the initial president. The secession was a space where people coming from different backgrounds could work together to influence a new culture.

Artistic Style and Influence

The style of German art at the time was closely influenced by France, whether or not you were attempting to replicate the French style or distance yourself from it. During the late Imperial period, from around 1888 to around 1918, ideas of nationalism and a political interest in art became more popularized. Germans were interested in what it meant to be German, and what it meant to have a cultural identity through artistic style. People wanted Germany to have an individual artistic identity. France had influenced the artistic world in Germany for so long, but at this point, both artists and consumers had begun to reject what was called French Naturalism, and garnering more interest in German Idealism. A member of the Berlin Secession, Karl Scheffler, categorized the differences in the artistic styles, perception and conception. Perception dictated painting of the natural world and what was physical around you. This was seen as the French way of art. Germans were conceptual painters, who took ideas and gave them form, and preferred to gain inspiration from their own thoughts.

This way of thinking about German art can explain the differences in art styles of the Berlin secession. Expressionistic artists like Emil Nolde and Edvard Munch were exhibiting with artists who stayed closer to ideas of German Modernism and Impressionism, like Max Liebermann and Walter Leistikow. Although they had artistic differences, they were all painting from the ideas and the thoughts they had at the time.

References:

Paret, Peter. "The Berlin Secession". Harvard University Press. Cambridge, Massachusetts. 1980.

Visual Arts Cork. "Berlin Secession: Avant-Garde Artists Group". October 12, 2019.

Bilski, Emily D. "Berlin Metropolis: Jews and the New Culture, 1890-1918" University of California Press. The Jewish Museum, New York. 1999.

Frank, Mitchell B."Painterly Thought: Max Liebermann and the Idea in Art." Universities Art Association of America.

King, Averil. "Emil Nolde: Artist of the Elements." Philip Wilson Publishers. 2013.