The Inter-War Years: An Age of Anxiety

1. The Inter-War Years: An Age of Anxiety -Key Concepts-

2. I. German Political Turmoil and Economic Crisis • Post-War Berlin • Establishment of the German Communist Party • Formation of the Freikorps • The Battle over Reparations • German Hyper-Inflation • The Dawes Plan and the Great Depression

3. II. Tremendous Cultural Creativity

4. A. Science • The Solar Eclipse of May 29, 1919 • Albert Einstein and the General Theory of Relativity (1916) • Space and Time are not Absolute • The Popularization of Einstein

5. A. Science (cont) • A Worldview of Uncertainty • The Cultural Application of Einstein’s Theories • Heisenberg’s Principle of Uncertainty (1927) • Nationalizing Science --James Chadwick identifies the neutron in 1932

6. B. Art • German Expressionism --Franz Kafka --Thomas Mann (1875-1955) --Erich Maria Remarque --Need to “Express” powerful emotions --Focus on “Angst” and Individual Anguish --Importance of Color in Painting

7. Erich Maria Remarque (1898-1970)

8. Franz Kafka (1883-1924)

9. German Expressionism • Paul Klee • “Senecio” • 1922 • oil on canvas mounted on panel, 40.5 x 38 cm, Kunstmuseum, Basel

10. Paul Klee, The Twittering Machines (1922)

11. George Grosz, Grey Day (1921)

12. B. Art (cont) • Growing Freedom of Expression • National Schools of Art versus the Supremacy of Paris • Post-Impressionist Trends -- “Dadaism” -- “Surrealism”

13. German Surrealism • “Ein Kupferblech” • Max Ernst • 1919-1920 • Collage with gouache and pencil on paper

14. B. Art (cont) • Experimental Theater --Berthold Brecht’s The Three Penny Opera --Leopold Jessner’s William Tell • Political Theater • Heyday of German Film Industry -- “Metropolis” (1927) -- “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” (1919) --Marlene Dietrich

15. Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (1927)

16. Robert Wiene’s The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, (1919)

17. C. Literature, Music and Philosophy • Literature --free verse --stream of consciousness • Music --atonality • Philosophy --Existentialism --Martin Heidegger (1889-1976)

18. D. Architecture • Birth of the Modern International Style • The Bauhaus Movement • Architecture as the source of a social revolution • Democratic Consumerism • Form Follows Function --Rejection of Period Revivalism --Artless Design that represented the spirit of modernity

19. The Fagus Shoe Factory (1911-1913)

20. D. Architecture (cont) • Mies van der Rohe and the glass skyscraper • Political controversy over this new architecture -- “Synagogue of Marxism”

21. “The Glass Skyscraper” • Friedrichstrasse Office Building • Berlin • 1919-1921 • Mies van der Rohe

22. Post World War II “Glass Skyscraper” • Seagram Building • New York City • 1958 • Mies van der Rohe

23. D. Architecture (cont) • Le Corbusier and the philosophy of architecture • Modern man alienated from modern life by his environment • Saw Society as a machine • Social engineering through architecture • Villa Savoie (1928) • Creating a smooth functioning social machine

24. III. New York City and the Modern Business World • The trend of industrial and capital concentration • The importance of large-scale organization --Krupp Steel Works • The Rise of Managerial Capitalism • The Skyscraper: A Home for Managerial Capitalism • The Skyscraper as the symbol of the corporation

25. III. New York City (cont) • New York City: Center of the high-rise building between 1910-1931 • Skyscraper Construction • The Woolworth Building: “A Cathedral of Commerce” (1913) • The use of period revivalism in NYC skyscrapers • The Race to Build Higher --Chrysler Building (1929)

26. III. New York City (cont) • The Empire State Building (1931) • Interior Decoration • New Opportunities for Women • The Decline of the Ornate Skyscraper after 1931 • New, Unornamented skyscraper design after World War II