Nieznana sztuka NRD
Unknown East German Art

Summary/Abstract: In 2003, the New National Gallery in Berlin organised a big art exhibition. It included work by 135 artists from former East Germany (DDR). Artists represented different styles, such as realism, social- realism, naïve art, surrealism, expressionism, postimpressionism, lyrical and geometric abstraction. Organisers showed several art schools, including Berlin and Leipzig art schools. Also, they documented artistic trends, such as “Frontal Expressive”, “Informel”, and “Construcyive-Concrete”. Herbert Bahrens-Hangeler, an abstractionist, said in 1981, that the Nazis “wounded his hand, but, after WWII, his land was cut off”. He referred to the atrocities of the communist regime. The curators did an excellent job showing how East German art developed in spite of severe political restrictions. The organisers selected the best art. The exhibition was an excellent review of East German art from 1945 to the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the end of communist era.

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