Artwork photos by David Otero: Clockwise from lower left: The Telegraph Operator, Albert Birkle, 1927; The Night, Max Beckmann, 1918–1919; Pillars of Society, George Grosz, 1926. Photo of cardinal – Colin Peterson.
(May 7, 2026) Flowers and art became an irresistible attraction for hundreds of visitors to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (MIA) in the last weekend of April for its Art in Bloom exhibits. That coincided with the main draw for me, Modern Art and Politics in Germany 1910–1945, which runs through July 19.
With my knowledge of visual fine arts registering about the same as my understanding of quantum physics, I was satisfied to recall the name of at least one of the artists represented in the exhibit, Paul Klee (1879-1940). The Swiss born German artist’s work is noted for its expressionism and surrealism styles.
That is one of the benefits of a good liberal arts education. Later in life when you attend a concert or visit an art museum, you can throw out an artist’s or composer’s name and sound like you know something. Beyond that it can feel overwhelming to view such a vast array of art in a short visit.
I had expected to find greater prominence given to the experience of artists in Germany during the Nazi years. It was there, although muted. Brief summaries described the pressures on artists to depict only themes approved by the Nazi regime, and persecution of those who resisted.
There could be a parallel with today, at least in the broadcast world. Lawsuits no matter how frivolous, threats about FCC licenses, and simple bullying have created a ‘chill’ to the free expression right that we have enjoyed. And the world of digital “art” has created a whole new universe of artistic expression, for better or worse.
Art, nature speak truth
Any emphasis of that distress in Nazi Germany was not really necessary as the artwork speaks for itself, and the truth. Some of it was unsettling enough, that upon leaving the galleries and going outside, a bright, red cardinal perched in a flowering tree seemed to draw more attention and happy smiles than did the artwork inside.
A message there could be that no matter how poignant or grim some artwork may be that was created under great political, economic and social duress, nature is always there to help us heal. And at MIA, perhaps the Art in Bloom exhibits, “imaginative floral interpretations of selected works of art from MIA’s permanent collection, created by more than 100 individual and commercial florists,” helped to offset the grimness of many works in the Modern Art and Politics in Germany 1910–1945 exhibit.
To describe the exhibit, I yield to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts webpage: “In the first half of the 20th century, Germany experienced the last years of the German Empire, World War I and the revolution that followed, the liberal Weimar Republic, the rise of Adolf Hitler and Nazism, World War II, and the Holocaust. Modern art played an important role in the discourse of the period, and politics influenced the arts.
“Beginning with the Expressionist reaction and opposition to the conservative artistic regime of Kaiser Wilhelm II, the exhibition moves on to the New Objectivity movement, the modern style of the 1920s… Painters and sculptors critiqued social currents, but most were silenced under the Nazis.”
Artful expression
Following the usual bumpy roads artists travel on their journey to notoriety, Klee pursued his work to create about 9,000 pieces of art, much in the Expressionist style. A Paul Klee website states: “Expressionism is a 20th-century modernist art movement… focusing on portraying subjective emotions, inner psychological experiences, and spiritual themes rather than objective reality. It features distorted forms, unnatural colors, and intense brushwork to evoke anxiety or intense emotion, commonly reacting to modern life or social crises.”
That could be a clue about my recollection of Klee. As a young man coming of age in turbulent times, in my case the Vietnam War, preceded by great social unrest, followed by economic turmoil, I may have felt themes similar to those in the artwork of Klee’s time.
However, after college graduation my response was to purchase a large motorcycle and spend the summer traveling around Europe with no conscious awareness of being where Klee worked and lived. Having been in the first draft lottery became my only defense against fleeting thoughts of former classmates facing combat in Vietnam. Latent at the time, my inspiration for writing emerged later.
In a previous post I attempted to describe art as communication reaching out to an audience “hoping to express ideas, beliefs, knowledge, facts, symbols that manifest in entertainment, knowledge, and inspiration. That is true for all forms of artistic expression: Painting, literature, drama, music, dance, film, and now Tik Tok and YouTube. For writers, I like this analogy to painting: In literature every word is a brushstroke. Each one is more or less important, and together they create the whole.” (What is art? – Everyone hard-wired to create and communicate, Dec. 18, 2024.)
Deeper dive
If you are interested in a deeper dive into the Modern Art and Politics in Germany 1910–1945 exhibit, the MIA website offers a user-friendly educator guide. Sunday, June 7 at 2 p.m. there will be a panel discussion of the exhibit with three professors from the University of Minnesota:
“Tom Rassieur, Mia’s John E. Andrus III Curator of Prints and Drawings, along with Priyanka Basu, Katerina Korola, and Matthias Rothe from the U of M, dive into the turbulent period that saw the rise of new styles of art in a political environment that included imperialism, revolution, democracy, fascism, war, and genocide.” Artistic styles may change, but it seems as if the subjects remain the same.
Such distress may be reflected in the conclusion of my March 5, 2026 post, A prescription for civic health – Art and literature exhibit community resilience amid political conflict: “In the travesty that is now being inflicted on our communities, our social cohesion and political order will certainly generate a new crop of art and literature telling what happened, and how individuals and communities responded. History shows that we will prevail. The cost we do not yet know, but the future will, as will be seen in art and literature, that follows.”
