Dada in the World War One - Essay Example

Dada in the World War During World War I (WWI), food riots and major strikeswere regular occurrences in Germany. Wounded soldiers, beggars, prostitutes, and acts of violence had become common sights on the streets. Germany was in a state of economic, social, and political crisis. The war was going badly for Germany. Complicating matters was the fact that in March Russia had undergone a successful communist revolution, and in April the United States had entered the war (Asprey 348). It was becoming clear to the military leaders and to the public that Germany was losing the war and post-war leadership became a pressing issue. With the future of Germany an uncertainty, many avant-garde artists, including George Ehrenfried Grosz, were inspired by the Russian Revolution and formed the Berlin Dada Club (McCloskey 45). They believed classic Marxism was the best solution to the turmoil in Germany (McCloskey 46). They thought the major social, economic, and political turmoil in Germany stemmed from the bourgeoisies oppression of the proletariat and dedicated their art to ending the war and revolutionary change. George Ehrenfried Grosz (1893-1959) was born in Berlin, Germany, and emerged as one of the leading German political artists between World War I. His artwork during the 1920s reflected the appalling conditions in Berlin that resulted from the German loss of World War I, which included: food shortages, staggering inflation, the sight of war cripples begging in the streets, rampant prostitution, and widespread violence. As the German military began to accept the loss of the war, Grosz became increasingly involved with left wing activities and publishing his revolutionarily motivated art. His sentiments were fueled by a close relationship he developed with two brothers, Weiland Herzfelde and John Herzfelde (or John Heartfield as he called himself). Grosz had met Heartfield while in the infantry and they both decided to Americanize their names as protest against the German military (George Groszs given name was Georg Gross) (McCloskey 20). The Herzfelde brothers had been influenced by their parents to have strong socialist views and revolutionary attitudes. Their father was a socialist writer and their mother a textile union organizer. Grosz and the Herzfelde brothers, the historian Beth Lewis pointed out, "shared a common conviction that the war was not only despicable, but that it was lost" (Lewis 42). Grosz also believed that the common soldier had an interest in not wanting the war to end. He reasoned that the accepted violence in the war freed the soldier from a moral code, allowing him to act on his base instincts, and freed him from any financial worries he may have had back home (Grosz, A Little 146). During a meeting of artists and intellectuals at Ludwig Meidners studio, Grosz demonstrated his ability to use satire to shock his audience (McCloskey 20). Grosz arrived at the meeting disguised as an impeccably-dressed Dutch businessman and addressed a young man who was supposed to report for military duty. He announced that he did not want the war to end because he stood to make a great deal of money from it (McCloskey 20). After a moment, when the initial shock had worn off, the guests began to protest. Grosz frequently dressed up as various characters he felt exemplified particular aspects of society that he found interestingly despicable in an effort to gain insight into a particular character types psyche (Lewis 57). The powerful businessman role he played symbolized those who stood to profit from the war and supported German militarism. Grosz believed that the best way to promote an end to the war was to incite the proletariat to fight against those in power: "My art was to be my arm, and my sword. Pens that drew without a purpose were empty straws" (Grosz 163). Grosz united with the Herzfelde brothers and began seeking out ways to publish illustrations and literature that promoted the rise of the working class and the end of the war. Around the same time that, a twenty-four year old German medical student and poet, Richard Huelsenbeck, had also recently returned to Berlin from Zurich. Huelsenbeck had collaborated in founding the first group of Dada artists with his close friend Hugo Ball, along with Hans Arp, Hans Richter, Sophie Taeuber, Marcel Jenco, Emmy Hennings, Tristan Tzara, and others, at the Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich in 1916 (Amason 253). The Zurich Dada artists were distressed by the war, which they blamed on Western civilization itself. To express their disdain for the war, they organized events at the Cabaret Voltaire; these events were principally directed against traditional Western art, which the Dadaists saw as the highest expression of the culture they abhorred. They put on exhibitions in which poets and painters recited poems, put on theatrical and ballet performances, exhibited works of a particularly provocative nature, and generally tried to create as much outrage as possible (Amason 254-55) The group concentrated their anti-war politics by creating works of art that rejected the traditional standards of aesthetics. The circumstances in war-torn Berlin, however, were very different from those in Zurich. Switzerland was a neutral country while Germany emerged from the war as the primary losing nation. Although the premise of Zurich Dada appealed to Grosz and the Herzfelde brothers, they were much less interested in attacking traditional cultural values and more interested in the movements Marxist political aims. Fig. 1. Endure to the End! (Berlin, 1915) Huelsenbeck began to collaborate with George Grosz, the Herzfelde brothers, and Franz Jung and published an art journal, Neue Jugend (New Youth), that included the works of various artists and writers and featured Groszs biting political illustrations (Lewis 44-45). One of Groszs most compelling works published in Neue Jugend was a macabre street scene, Endure to the End! (see fig. 1). The illustration features a hearse, a prostitute, and a man carrying a small coffin under his arm like a football. All of the figures have large black eyes, as if they are blind to their gruesome circumstance. Endure to the End! is rendered in Groszs trademark style: hollow figures, rough, childlike outlines, and a shocking satirical message. The illustration takes aim at those who supported the war and exposes their apathy towards those who lost their lives. Grosz hoped his art would help weaken lingering pro-war sentiments while Herzfelde, who was a pacifist, hoped the publication would promote peace. Lewis commented: "If the publication did not fully realize Herzfeldes dream of an antiwar journal, it did succeed in publishing George Groszs drawings" (Lewis 44). Since the journal was published on a regular basis, Groszs fame soon began to rise. As a result of its inflammatory antiwar message, however, Neue Jugend was banned after one year, but it had prepared the men for the publishing needs of Berlin Dada in structure and content. During the war, economic tendencies toward the concentration of wealth had increased. Large cartels were able to monopolize markets and small businessmen were not able to compete. Those who had money were able to make more money because labor was cheap. Many working-class citizens were threatened more than ever before, while the capitalists were gaining power. Workers wages decreased as prices increased. This atmosphere was very conducive to the spread of Dada and to the appeal of Marxism, which promoted the idea of the workers gaining control of the state (Lewis 66). Grosz sympathized with the working classes. He never forgot his past, even after he had secured financial stability and notability through his art. Huelsenbeck pointed out: "George Groszs awareness of social distinctions had been heightened in Stolp, where he had grown up in the officers casino run by his parents. He was never to forget the arrogance of the ruling class" (Huelsenbeck 116). Grosz, Huelsenbeck, the Herzfelde brothers, and other Berlin avant-garde artists continued to become increasingly involved in left-wing politics and formed the Berlin Dada Club. By late summer in 1918, even the most ardent German militarist and nationalist began to accept the fact that Germany was losing the war. The German forces faced heavy losses in the battle of Somme and Arras by the British and French. Furthermore, British and Americans forces were advancing towards Cambrai and Argonne Forest (Asprey 480-481) As a result of these offensives, the German government began to seek armistice talks with the Allies, but the attempt fell through. Not all of the German military leaders were willing to hand over power without taking one final stand. On October 24, 1918, Admiral Reinhard Scheer and Ludendorff decided to launch a last attempt to restore the "valor" of the German Navy without informing their superiors. When word of the impending assault reached the sailors on the Kiel, many of them rebelled and refused to be part of a naval offensive that they believed was suicidal (Moyer 305). When the working class citizens heard about the mutiny, they were inspired by the sailors bravery in standing up against their superior officers. The mutiny was the spark that ignited what is known as The November Revolution. German citizens began to organize against those in governmental power. It was during this time, when the workers were rising up to take control of the government, that the Dada art movement began to gain in strength. The Dada artist Hans Richter wrote: "While in one comer of Berlin, sailors were defending imperial stables against troops loyal to the Kaiser, the Dadaists were laying plans in another corner" (Richter 101). Several of the Berlin Dada artists joined the German Communist Party (K.P.D.) and aimed their art against the German Socialist Party (S.P.D.) (McCloskey 49-50). Berlin Dada was the art of protest. The art historian Frank Whitford pointed out that the Dada artists believed that the S.P.D. was really the old imperial regime dressed up in new uniforms: "The legal system had not been reformed; the power of the Church was still undiminished; the economy was in ruins; but the social inequalities were as huge as ever"( Whitford 9). Grosz called attention to the impropriety of the emerging leaders of the new government in one major painting that he continued to work on throughout the life of the Berlin Dada movement, Germany, A Winters Tale (see fig. 2). Fig. 2. A Winters Tale (Berlin, 1917-19) Germany, A Winters Tale is named after Heinrich Heines poem that satirizes the German philistines and Prussian officers (see fig. 2). In Germany, A Winters Tale, collage components include a real newspaper clipping and real war ration coupons scattered on the table in the center. By using a simultaneous vision technique, Grosz interweaves a multitude of satirical images on a single picture plane. The overall message reflects the chaos and instability of life for the common man in Germany. The central theme of Germany, A Winters Tale concerns the fall of a German society inhabited by a variety of stereotypical figures. In the center of the painting is a well-fed soldier who represents the bourgeoisie. He is seated at a precarious table grasping his knife and fork in each hand with an alarmed look on his face. While the soldier sits trying to enjoy his food and morning newspaper, the world around him is falling apart. Sleeping on a chair next to the soldier is the soldiers dog. The dog is also undisturbed by the chaos. In January of 1919, the German National Assembly met in Weimar, Germany. On August 11, 1919, Chancellor Friedrich Ebert signed a new German constitution into law (Fulbrook 162). The basic tenet of this new German Constitution was that Germany was to be a republic on the parliamentary model (Fulbrook 162). The Weimar Republic was the result of a constitutional revolution, not a social one. The stabilization of the new republic meant that its leaders needed to rid the country of all remaining revolutionaries. Grosz and the Berlin Dada members, however, were not willing to give up their left-wing beliefs. According to Robert Hughes: "To be modern in Berlin, in the aftermath of World War I, meant to be engaged in the theatre of politics, a city torn by shortages and every kind of postwar misery, as Left battled Right for possession of the streets" (Hughes 68). The establishment of the Weimar Republic did not discourage Grosz from continuing his fight against the bourgeoisie. He continued to fight not only with his art, but also with his actions. Dada Movement and Grosz tried to change the political and social landscape of Germany with shocking and often unattractive works that sought to reveal the inherent corruption these artists believed resided in the self-serving interests of the upper classes. Unfortunately, toward the end of his life, Grosz sadly accepted the fact that his art and Dada Movement had failed to spur a rise of the proletariat and had done little to undermine those who supported the World War (Kranzfelder 85). What he did not realize, however, was that his lifes work would stand as a reminder of the image most people hold of the appalling conditions in Berlin that resulted from the loss of World War I. While it is true that his art was not capable of altering the social, economic, and political climate of his day, it continues to teach an important lesson about a time when unimpeded avarice and apathy among men proved to be the impetus that led to world strife. It is a lesson the world can scarcely afford to ignore. Work Cited Amason, H. H. History of Modem Art. Upper Saddle River: Prentice, 1998. Asprey, Richard. The German High Command. New York: William Marrow, 1991. Fulbrook, Mary. A Concise History of Germany. Cambridge: Cambridge U P, 1991. Grosz, George. A Little Yes And A Big No. Trans. Nora Hodges. New York: Dial, 1946. Huelsenbeck, Richard. Memoirs of a Dada Drummer. Trans. Joachim Neugroschel. Ed. Hans Klienschmidt. Berkeley: University of California, 1991. Hughes, Robert. The Shock of the New. New York: Knopf, 1991. Kranzfelder, Ivo. Grosz. Los Angeles: Taschen, 2005. Lewis, Beth. The Art and Politics in the Weimar Republic. Madison: University of Wisconsin, 1971. McCloskey, Barbara. George Grosz and the Communist Party (New Jersey: Princeton University, 1997) 53. Moyer, Laurence. Victory Must Be Ours. New York: Hippocrene, 1995. Richter, Hans. Dada Art and Anti-Art. Trans. David Britt. London: Thames, 1964. Whitford, Frank. The Berlin of George Grosz. New Haven: Yale, 1979. Read More