| The abdication of the kaiser in 1918 provided an opportunity for the National Gallery's director, Ludwig Justi, to support Expressionism as the leading style in German modernism through exhibitions and acquisitions. The change was widely reported in the daily newspapers. This fueled press debates which were frequently marked by criticism, raising awareness of the museum's activities. This study is motivated by the question of the impact of politicized criticism of the National Gallery's support of modern art on public art opinion, and ultimately on the public acceptance of the National Socialist policy to suppress modern art beginning in 1933.;The museum's power to control the ideological projection of the nation's self-image made it a participant in national politics. Its linkage of national self-representation and art was important because there was a general conviction that the leading styles in art were expressive of the state of society. Therefore in light of the nationalist implications of the museum's activities, Justi's embrace of Expressionism became highly contested. As a reflection of the state of society, Expressionism had become firmly linked to the political and economic instability prevalent in the years 1918–1923.;Justi sought to couch the rhetoric surrounding modern art in language that would make it palatable to a nation searching for stability after its defeat in World War I. However, this backfired among critics interested in promoting a heroic and stable image of Germany. By far the most dangerous and virulent of these attackers were right-wing cultural organizations, who based their attacks on nationalist grounds. They did not want the culture of the German nation, as represented in the National Gallery, to be associated with a period of crisis. For them, culture had become a tool in the battle for political power, used to gain the sympathy of socially conservative voters in electoral campaigns. Their success led the majority of the audience for art to dislike modern art, disapprove of the activities of the National Gallery and its director, and ultimately to favor the radical changes made in government cultural policy by the National Socialists in 1933. |
