This presentation examines the idea of 'Entartete Kunst' introduced by Hitler and Piet Mondrian's flight to America. There, now 68 years old, he managed to renew himself as an artist once more, creating his masterpiece Victory Boogie Woogie.
Piet Mondrian (1872-1944) lived in a turbulent time that saw two world wars. Perhaps precisely because of this, he was always looking for balance and equilibrium throughout his life and in the artistic field. Mondrian was convinced that art in the right composition and proportions could contribute to harmony in the world.
Entartete Kunst
In 1934, Adolf Hitler decided that there was no room for modern art in the Third Reich. Art that did not conform to National Socialist ideas was labelled 'Entartet'. To show the people the moral decay of modern art, the Nazis organised the 'Entartete Kunst' exhibition in Munich in 1937, which showcased 650 modern works of art. Mondrian was one of the few foreign artists represented in this exhibition with two works.
To London and New York
The artist no longer felt safe in Europe and wanted to go to America. To do so, he first travelled to London in 1938, carrying in a crate the paintings he was currently working on. In London, Mondrian got to know the English art world and American Peggy Guggenheim, with whom he explored the nightlife. It was only in September 1940 that Mondrian was able to take the boat from Liverpool to America. This was just in time, as not much later his neighbourhood in London was heavily bombed.
Ode to freedom
Mondrian flourished in New York. The city did him good. There, in the new world, the artist managed to reinvent himself once again and created his masterpiece, the Victory Boogie Woogie. A copy of this painting was exhibited at Amsterdam's Stedelijk Museum shortly after the war, in 1946, as an ode to freedom.