Art as a weapon. The “Asso” and the revolutionary fine art of the 1920s

This catalogue accompanied the exhibition of the same name hosted by the nGbK in 1971 and organized by the executive of the German Communist Party (DKP) to mark the Dürer Year. According to the foreword by Kurt Bachmann, it was meant to counterbalance the fact that the official organizing committee of the Dürer Year had “no workers, no farmers, but Franz Josef Strauß. Who would seek to credibly celebrate the 500th birthday of Dürer, one of the most progressive individuals of his time, with this reactionary warmonger and mouthpiece of the arms industry?” The exhibition presented artworks from the period of the 1918 November Revolution through the beginning of Nazi rule in 1933, focusing on the Association of Revolutionary Fine Artists in Germany (“Asso”) that fought against fascism and for a democratic, socialist Germany. The catalogue contains an extensive illustrated section with lists of works and biographical outlines for artists including Otto Dix, George Grosz, Lea Grundig, Sella Hasse, and John Heartfield.

Ed.: Parteivorstand DKP, Referat Bildungs- und Kulturpolitik

Travelling from Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nürnberg