Florence Thurmes – författare

Three hundred works from twenty-one countries form a European panorama of the many facets of realism in art that were ubiquitous in Europe during the 1920s and 1930s. They tell of poverty and misery, economic upheaval, artistic flourishing and progress, urban culture, nightlife, emancipation and diversity.A devastating world war, the Spanish flu, poverty, global economic crisis, National Socialism – such was the 1920s. No other epoch has as many parallels to today as the period between the two world wars. This richly illustrated volume brings together treasures from across Europe, offering fresh inspiration through superb works of art that remain strikingly relevant. The eclectic period known as the Golden Twenties promises to be a magnet for visitors in Chemnitz, the European Capital of Culture in 2025. Artists: Aleksandra Beļcova, Maria Blanchard, Otto Dix, Pranas Domšaitis, Stina Forssell, August Jansen, Jean Jacoby, Alexander Kanoldt, Pyke Koch, Béla Kontuly, Ivan Kos, Sonja Kovačić-Tajčević, Lotte Laserstein, Rafał Malczewski, Milada Marešová, Ubaldo Oppi, Sergius Pauser, Cagnaccio di San Pietro, William Roberts, Ángeles Santos, Franz Sedlacek, Ilona Singer-Weinberger, Ludomir Sleńdziński, Niklaus Stoecklin, Marijan Trepše, Kiril Tsonev, Gerda Wegener, Carel Willink.

Art collector, patron and arbiter – Hanna Bekker vom Rath (1893–1983) was a trailblazer for the artistic avant-garde and one of the most important female personalities in Germany during the pre-war and post-war modern periods. She was a friend of Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Alexej von Jawlensky, Ida Kerkorius and Paul Klee. This lavishly illustrated volume provides a lively picture of a remarkable woman.A refuge for modernism – Hanna Bekker vom Rath promoted the art of the Brücke artists and the avant-garde in a variety of ways. Even during the National Socialist era her “Blue House” in Hofheim served as an intimate space for exchanges and exhibitions for the artists who were her friends. After the war she founded the Kunstkabinett in Frankfurt, the city’s first postwar gallery, and she undertook numerous international journeys on behalf of modern art. The texts and images sketch a multi-faceted portrait of an “ambassador of art” and document the influence of her achievements.

A book with bestseller potential – Edvard Munch, a key figure of European modernism, and one of his most important themes: angst. Everyone knows it and fears it – regardless of cultural and social background – yet it is also essential to life, as a driving force and source of energy. Hardly any painter has captured this aspect of the human condition so powerfully as Munch – an artist whose unique body of work leaves no one unmoved.A pioneer of modernism – and a comprehensive and opulent document of a universal emotion! Working outside the academy, Munch as able to address the raw, wild, and immediate aspects of human existence.