The gallery of miracles and madness : insanity, modernism, and Hitler's war on art / Charlie English.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

English, Charlie, author.

Contributor:

EBSCOhost.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Prinzhorn, Hans, 1886-1933--Art collections.

Prinzhorn, Hans.

Prinzhorn, Hans, 1886-1933. Bildnerei der Geisteskranken.

Prinzhorn, Hans, 1886-1933.

National socialism and art.

Art and mental illness--Germany--History--20th century.

Art and mental illness.

Art--Destruction and pillage--Germany--History--20th century.

Art.

Killing of the mentally ill--Germany--History--20th century.

Killing of the mentally ill.

History.

Destruction and pillage.

Art museums.

Germany.

Physical Description:

1 online resource : illustrations (some color), map

Place of Publication:

New York : Random House, [2021]

System Details:

text file

Summary:

The untold story of Hitler's war on "degenerate" artists and the mentally ill that served as a model for the 'Final Solution'. "Dazzling ... Richly wrought and deeply researched, it's also a salient reminder to beware of pseudoscience."--Susannah Cahalan, author of Brain on Fire and The Great Pretender As a veteran of the First World War, and an expert in art history and medicine, Hans Prinzhorn was uniquely placed to explore the connection between art and madness. The work he collected--ranging from expressive paintings to life-size rag dolls and fragile sculptures made from chewed bread--contained a raw, emotional power, and the book he published about the material inspired a new generation of modern artists, Max Ernst, André Breton, and Salvador Dalí among them. By the mid-1930s, however, Prinzhorn's collection had begun to attract the attention of a far more sinister group. Modernism was in full swing when Adolf Hitler arrived in Vienna in 1907, hoping to forge a career as a painter. Rejected from art school, this troubled young man became convinced that modern art was degrading the Aryan soul, and once he had risen to power he ordered that modern works be seized and publicly shamed in "degenerate art" exhibitions, which became wildly popular. But this culture war was a mere curtain-raiser for Hitler's next campaign, against allegedly "degenerate" humans, and Prinzhorn's artist-patients were caught up in both. By 1941, the Nazis had murdered 70,000 psychiatric patients in killing centers that would serve as prototypes for the death camps of the Final Solution. Dozens of Prinzhorn artists were among the victims. The Gallery of Miracles and Madness is a spellbinding, emotionally resonant tale of this complex and troubling history that uncovers Hitler's wars on modern art and the mentally ill and how they paved the way for the Holocaust. Charlie English tells an eerie story of genius, madness, and dehumanization that offers readers a fresh perspective on the brutal ideology of the Nazi regime.

Contents:

The man who jumped in the canal

A revolutionary for eternal things

A meeting at Emmendingen

Dangerous to look at!

Our sick and troubled times

Adventures in no-man's land

Pleasant little pictures

Dinner with the Bruckmanns

Glimpses of a transcendental world

Kunst und Rasse

The limits of reason

Cleansing the temple of art

To be German means to be clear

The triumph of sterelation

It cannot be destroyed enough

Useless eaters

A bus ride to Grafeneck

Der Untermensch

In the madhouse.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

Electronic reproduction. Ipswich, MA Available via World Wide Web.

Description based on online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on August 20, 2021).

Other Format:

Print version: English, Charlie. Gallery of miracles and madness

ISBN:

9780525512066

0525512063

Publisher Number:

40030682226

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.