European Realities: Realism Movements of the 1920s and 1930s

A collection of art works from Europe in the 1920s and 30s, an exceptionally diverse period of art presented as never before.

Three hundred works from twenty-one countries form a European panorama of the many facets of realism in art that were ubiquitous in Europe during the 1920s and 1930s. They tell of poverty and misery, economic upheaval, artistic flourishing and progress, urban culture, nightlife, emancipation, and diversity.

A devastating world war, the Spanish flu, poverty, global economic crisis, National Socialism—such was the 1920s. No other epoch has as many parallels to today as the period between the two world wars. This richly illustrated volume brings together realist treasures from across Europe, offering fresh inspiration through superb works of art that remain strikingly relevant. The eclectic period known as the Golden Twenties promises to be a magnet for visitors in Chemnitz, the European Capital of Culture in 2025.

Featured artists include Aleksandra Belcova, Maria Blanchard, Otto Dix, Pranas Domšaitis, Stina Forssell, August Jansen, Jean Jacoby, Alexander Kanoldt, Pyke Koch, Béla Kontuly, Ivan Kos, Sonja Kovacic-Tajcevic, Lotte Laserstein, Rafal Malczewski, Milada Marešová, Ubaldo Oppi, Sergius Pauser, Cagnaccio di San Pietro, William Roberts, Ángeles Santos, Franz Sedlacek, Ilona Singer-Weinberger, Ludomir Slendzinski, Niklaus Stoecklin, Marijan Trepše, Kiril Tsonev, Gerda Wegener, and Carel Willink.
 

Anja Richter is director of the Gunzenhauser Museum in Chemnitz.
 

Florence Thurmes is general director of the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz in Germany.