Branded Degenerate

Expressionism's emotional honesty made it dangerous to dictators. The Nazi regime branded it "degenerate art" and staged a 1937 exhibition to mock it and sell the public on the idea that modern art proved moral decay.

The cost was real. Kirchner took his own life in 1938 after the Nazis seized hundreds of his works. Even Nolde, a party member, was banned from painting. A movement built on honest feeling could not coexist with a regime built on lies.