Gregory Maertz

"House of Art" is based on the archives of the House of German Art (1937-49), a microcosm of Nazi cultural life intended to foreground the Nazi alternative to Classical Modernism. This study radically alters our understanding of officially-sanctioned art—its production, patronage, and exhibition history—and offers the missing evidence needed to support the work of scholars who are rethinking how modernism and modernity relate to Nazi art, architecture, film, and design. The newly uncovered materials supporting this analysis document Hitler's art purchases from 1939-44, the 15,000 artists who submitted work for the Great German Art Exhibitions, the correspondence of the postwar Processing and Settlement Office to artists, and purchase records of Nazi-era exhibitions.