It’s hard to take in a lot of the history without a heavy, very sad feeling about what people are capable of doing; it’s hard to see monuments to war victims everywhere and sections of the Berlin Wall all around the city without thinking about the incredible injustices of history.
But by seeing the art of these same periods of history, one has the opportunity to see, too, creative works as individual expressions of dissent, each of the paintings standing in opposition to dictatorship, censorship, propaganda, genocide. So that’s not to say that leaving the art museum I felt awesome about humanity—see Otto Dix's 1934 painting "Flanders" (below) and see what I mean. But great works of art always stand against corrupt institutions of power; it’s important to be reminded of how that is possible, even under the most extreme forms of oppression.
Lotte Laserstein’s “Evening over Postdam” was the first painting I saw in the museum—a recently acquired piece, it was hanging so as to be immediately visible upon entering the main galleries. It’s a very large painting that, recalling da Vinci’s “The Last Supper”, depicts a sort of disconsolate looking family or group of friends, crowded onto a small balcony. The meal on the table is notably meager, and the city of Potsdam spreads out in the background behind the unhappy, uncomfortable group.
This piece made the connections between the art in the museum, and World War II and Jewish histories seem incredibly urgent—in particular, in terms of what aspects of those histories are available today as a result of the Nazi oppression at the time. As a Jewish painter with her career beginning to take off just as the Nazis were rising to power, Laserstein had more or less been forgotten by Art History because of work she was forced to give up, exile she was forced into. Her work has only recently (in 1987 through an exhibition and sale of her works, including “Evening over Potsdam”) been rediscovered and given some retrospective place of importance in the Modernist artistic landscape leading up to and throughout WWII.
Another crazy, very freighted piece in the museum was a photograph of Franz Marc’s 1913 Expressionist painting “Tower of the Blue Horses,” which hung among the other original paintings in the collection. The presence of the copy of the work draws attention to the absence of Marc’s actual painting—the explanation for which is really interesting.
Apparently, the painting was on exhibition in the late 1930s when it was confiscated by the Nazis and labeled as Degenerate Art, art that was contrary to what were considered by the Nazis to be “correct” aesthetic values that appropriately reflected their social and political ideology. But after a visit by Hermann Goering, the painting went missing and was later seen as a part of Goering’s personal collection in the Haus am Waldsee in Berlin. After the war, the painting disappeared once more and, it is widely believed, was smuggled to and stashed in a bank vault in Zurich! Wow—like, give it back already. Anyway it is very sensational! But sad, too, obviously—it would be nice to see the original and will be very exciting if and when it ever resurfaces.
Not to dwell too much on specific personal favorites in the museum, I should talk about one of the major exhibits that’s entitled Modern Times, after the movie by Charlie Chaplin. They had a flatscreen TV at the beginning of the exhibit, and it played a continuous loop of a piece of the movie—if you haven’t seen it, check it out here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjarLbD9r30&feature=related
(The quality of this video isn’t great, unfortunately, I’m sure you can find a better one but—interesting fact—Germany has really strict intellectual property laws; a lot of what you’re able to see on youtube in the States is not available here.)
Anyway this movie is so funny, and gives a really brilliant context for the art on display in the exhibit. Man and the machine! And whatnot.
A key piece in the Modern Times exhibit was Hannah Hoch’s 1919 “Cut with the Dada Kitchen Knife through the Last Weimar Beer-Belly Cultural Epoch in Germany,” which is about as funny as Charlie Chaplin’s movie, albeit a totally different form. Hoch makes a collage of news clippings to create really amazingly ridiculous caricatures of various public figures and illustrate the kind of crazy, swirling chaos of politics at the time.
Lastly, just a few more pictures of great ones to see in the museum.
Berlin Logistics:
Restaurant Recommendations:
Anand’s: Albrechtstrasse 12, Berlin 10117. Easily the best Indian food I’ve ever had. In fact I liked it so much (I’m always doing this, incredible creature of habit that I am…) I ate there twice. Right near the Friedrich St. train stop, it’s convenient to the East Side Gallery and Brecht’s theater—of course, probably lots of other things, too. I had the ever-popular palak paneer and, a new favorite of mine, palak jal fraizee.
The Weinerei: Veteranenstrasse 14, Berlin 10119. Located in Prenzlauer Berg, a kind of grungy wine bar with an amazing concept: pay what you think you owe. More or less. You pay 2€ for a glass, and it’s suggested that you pay 2€ for each successive glass you drink. Though it isn’t enforced, I think the idea is that no one should want to abuse such a great and already very reasonable system. There are half a dozen choices of both red and white wines, all self-serve. Food is available, too—limited to just pasta and salad (you can’t be picky, but it is vegetarian)— on the same “honor system” as the drinks. Take public transit to Rosenthaler Platz.
Frarosa: Zionskirchstrasse 40, Berlin 10119. I haven’t actually been, but if you like the sound of the Weinerei and you’re looking for dinner, too, check it out. It’s very close to the Weinerei and operated by the same people on the same business model, except (I think because it’s much smaller) you can only get a table if you’re ordering food, which is on the more familiar, pay-per-item menu system. It’s also very cute inside—low, well-worn velvet couches, drapes hanging floor to ceiling, dim lighting, candles, sexy ladies painted on the walls! Also convenient to Rosenthaler Platz.
Where we stayed:
We are lucky enough to have two amazing friends, Aaron and Lily, who currently live in Berlin. We stayed with them for 2 nights, and then spent 4 nights in an apartment of our own, kind of. Check out berlin.sofort.de. It was very affordable (45€/night) and reasonably convenient to a train station and things we wanted to see without being overwhelmed by downtown hotel, tourist-trapping expense and stodgy restaurants—in fact, it was in a very cute neighborhood around the corner from a very good bakery J. Also, the pictures on the website of the studio we chose were exactly as the room appeared in real life (this is key when budget traveling and, unfortunately in my experience, not always the case)—very clean, comfortable, and minimalist/Ikea-savvy. No complaints! Though if you go this route, don’t forget to bring your own bath towel, as they’re not included and there’s no front desk to speak of—the studio was located on the 3rd floor of a regular apartment building.
Getting around the city:
Unlike our visit to Strasbourg, where one can really do without public transit entirely, in Berlin we used the train system a lot. You kind of have to, because a.) it’s freezing cold and b.) the city is huge. If you’re staying with friends who live there and your friends have monthly transit passes, on the weekends and holidays you can travel with them for free as their guest. If not, and/or during the regular work week, I recommend the Tageskarte, a full day (24 hours) ticket. It costs 6.10€ but it really beats walking in the snow! Or getting caught without a ticket by undercover train police (sounds really scary, right??) who issue 40€ fines to any and all Schwarzfahrer (it supposed to just mean “illegal traveler,” but it literally translates as black rider! Germany, are you kidding??). But it is the very best public transit system I’ve ever seen—a perfect 10/10! Trains every 3-6 minutes! Trains going everywhere! Trains connecting everything!! Just don’t be a Schwarzfahrer, I guess.
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