Here and Now? 20 Post-War Positions in Germany after 1960



After World War II, after dictatorship and deep provincialism, an internationalization of the German art scene began. Art in the West developed close ties to France and the USA, whereas in the East first of all the doctrine of socialist realism seems to have prevailed. Apart from international attention German Art also obtained considerable economic success.

Artists such as Richter or Kiefer appear in all major international collections. On the other hand there are now and then constant specifically German topics: world war II, guilt, the Holocaust, German myths – German art seems to present a dance on a tightrope between cosmopolitanism and questions of identity.

The course will follow the chronology of events, presenting the following 20 individual artists, but we also will try to discuss the question whether there could or should be such a thing as typically German or National Art at all.

Georg Baselitz

Bernd und Hilla Becher

Joseph Beuys

Carl Otto Götz

Andreas Gursky

Johannes Grützke

Hans Haacke

Rebecca Horn

Jörg Immendorf

Anselm Kiefer

Kippenberger

Markus Lüpertz

Jonathan Meese

Sigmar Polke

Neo Rauch

Gerhard Richter

Salome

Thomas Schütte

Werner Tübke

Wolf Vostell



Required text: Thomas: Kunst in Deutschland seit 1945 (Dumont Verlag, Köln 2004).