Rescued Modernism – Masterpieces from Kirchner to Picasso

“In 1937, large numbers of Modernist works of art were removed from Berlin’s Kupferstichkabinett as part of the Nazis’ nationwide campaign against “Degenerate Art”. The curator of the museum at the time, Willy Kurth (1881–1963) , made courageous efforts to save hundreds of works from being destroyed. Drawing on the 2023 publication Die Aktion “Entartete Kunst” 1937 im Berliner Kupferstichkabinett by Anita Beloubek-Hammer, this exhibition gathers together a selection of key works to reveal what these campaigns were able to save in 1937. The show also features works by Max Beckmann, Otto Dix, George Grosz, Erich Heckel, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Wassily Kandinsky, Käthe Kollwitz, Henri Matisse, Edvard Munch and Pablo Picasso, illustrating the impressive breadth of the museum’s collection of Modernist art at the time. …”