Psychedelic God and Other Joys at LACMA
On my brief visit to LACMA the other day, I was jaw dropped and kicked in the cojones by the newly installed Robert Gore Rifkind Gallery for German Expressionism in the Ahmanson building. All of these images come from this important gathering of works, with the exception of the sculpture at bottom which hovers nearby. I didn’t have much time to properly photograph every amazing object, so I’m giving a shout out to Käthe Kollwitz, who isn’t represented here. This is a generation of artists who were direct actors in some of the most important events of the 20th Century. Looking at these works, and just thinking about who these people were, I am reminded of the power of art to be important and relevant both in its time, and long after.
above Max Pechstein, Und Die Kraft Und Die Herrlichkeit (And the Power and the Glory), from Das Vater Unser, woodcut, 1921 - Eye of Providence and everything. This is one of twelve images from a very, very hard to photograph series of prints depicting the Lord’s Prayer. I am positively awestruck by the psychedelic symbolism and colour of this series. It’s God as father, fuhrer and guru, all rolled up into one, at once German and also at the same time primeval. Robert Anton Wilson eat your heart out. Primary label for this series is here, as is a crappy shot of the whole body of work. Go see this one for yourself - the colour must be seen to be believed.
above Max Pechstein, Vater Unser Der Du Bist Im Himmel (Our Father, Which Art in Heaven), from Das Vater Unser, woodcut, 1921 - From the same series. This is somewhat frightening presentation of God, as here and now, as immediate and passionate in a way that I find intimidating and which reduces me to universal smallness, which I suppose is one of the functions of Judeo-Christian religious art.
above - Otto Dix, Strumtruppe gehr unter Gas vor (Shock Troops Advance under Gas), from the portfolio Der Krieg (War), etching, 1924 - One of a portfolio of 50 prints, this is possibly one of the most haunting and frightful images I’ve ever seen in a museum. The various images in this portfolio are almost a rejection of the presumed glory of battle painting - they are each like a hyperlink to what would actually be happening in a conflict, rather than the fantasy of pre-photographic military art. Label is here, and image of Verwindeter Hebst (Wounded Man), 1916, Bapaume is here, also from the same series.
above - Wassily Kandinsky, Phalanx 1. Ausstellung, lithograph, 1901 - Made while Kandinsky was in Munich, a beautiful modern treatment of Greek subjects. Label is here.
Above - Ernst Barlach, God The Father Hovering, plaster, 1922 - I loathe vitrines. They make it impossible to get a good 3/4 view of sculpture. This is the only piece not in the Rifkin Room, but it’s an amazing pairing to the Max Pechstein works up top. I’m totally mindwarped by the religious enthusiasm present in this work - it almost seems immediately Jewish and familiar, although Barlach was not Jewish. I wish I owned this. Label is here.
Technorati Tags: art, printmaking, prints, etching, woodcut, Max Pechstein, Lord’s Prayer, Wassily Kandinsky, Phalanx, Otto Dix, Shock Troops, gas masks, World War I, WWI, Der Kreig, Ernst Barlach, God the Father, God, religious art, military art, sculpture, plaster, hovering, LACMA, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, museum, art museum, Robert Gore Rifkind Gallery for German Expressionism
