1914 Die Avantgarden im Kampf Kat. Bundeskunsthalle Bonn

The First World War ranks as the seminal catastrophe of the twentieth century, a century which would reach its moral nadir in the Nazi’s political program of total war and extermination. Franz Marc, in keeping with countless statements by his contemporaries, summed up this spirit as follows: “In our era of great struggle for new art, we do not fight as the organized, but as wild ones against an old, established power. The battle seems unequal, yet in spiritual matters, it is not the sheer number but the strength of ideas that prevails.” The exhibition in the Bundeskunsthalle in Bonn and the catalogue, go that decisive step further by examining the processes of transmission between the international art movements of the time. What are the historical preconditions for Expressionism, Cubism, Dadaism or other rival conceptions of art that competed with one another into the 1930s and how they relate to them?

Uwe M. Schneede studied Art History , Literary Studies and Classical Archeology at Kiel University and at the University of Munich. From 1985 to 1990 he was professor of art history with a focus on the 20th century at the Kunsthistorisches Seminar of the University of Munich. In 1991 he took office as director of the Hamburger Kunsthalle. From 1994 he was part-time professor of art history at the College of Fine Arts Hamburg. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Hanne Darboven Foundation. In 2009, Schneede was awarded the Cross of Merit on the ribbon of the Federal Republic of Germany. He has written and published a series of books on art and art history. He lives and works in Hamburg.