German Art

Although many countries in Europe boast a long and proud tradition in the arts, perhaps one of the most impressive belongs to German art. Throughout the Middle Ages, German architects, stone masons, and artisans worked on countless cathedrals, churches, and public buildings, many of which still stand today.

An early example of German sculpture comes in the form of the Bramberger Reiter, or the Bramberg Horseman, an equestrian statue featured in Bramberg Cathedral. As with many works of that time period, the name of the artist has not survived. However, scientists can say with reasonable certainty that the statue was sculpted sometime between 1225 and 1237. It stands today in the same location where it has stood for centuries, at the north pillar of the St. George choir, atop a console. It depicts an unarmed king, nameless, sitting atop his horse and watching over the tomb of a Holy Roman Emperor. This early example of German art is considered the first nodiv equestrian statue since the days of Rome.

During the German Renaissance, many different German artists left their native land to study abroad in Italy, where they learned new techniques and were inspired by some of Italy’s finest artists. These lessons influenced an entire generation of artists to create new and uniquely German art. This era also saw the rise of The Danube School, a collection of painters that arose during the first thirty years of the sixteenth century in Bavaria and Austria. They were incredibly gifted landscape artists and printmakers who often incorporated a more Italian style, using painterly techniques that differed from those used in other Northern Renaissance painting. Some members of the Danube School were Albrecht Atdorfer, JA¶rg Breu the Elder, and Augustin Hirschvogel.

Later around the mid-eighteenth century, the DA?sseldorf School of artists emerged, all of whom bore the signature mark of the DA?sseldorf academy’s artistic teachings. Either former students or acolytes of the academy’s teachings, artists in the DA?sseldorf School developed into prominence during the 1830s and 1840s as the Nazarene movement gained popularity. Artists considered to be part of this movement sought to revive honesty and spirituality in Christian art, reacting against neoclassicism and their teachings. These artists pushed German art beyond the boundaries of academia, striving to achieve something real and meaningful through their artwork.

During the twentieth century, many German artists began working in a style known as Plakatstil, which means “Poster Style,” incorporating bold lines and colors with simple designs. Seminal movements”such as Expressionism, which favored a departure from realistic forms and shapes in favor of an art that emphasized mood and absurd geometry”began do develop and flourish in German art. In response to this, counter-movements even began to emerge, such as New Objectivism, which rejected the principles of Expressionism. When the Nazis came to power in the 1930s, they had a very clear idea of what sort of art was desirable and what wasn’t, and deemed any artwork that did not fit into their ideological view to be “undesirable” or “degenerate” art.