>> Sreenivasan: WE TURN NOW TO
AN ART EXHIBIT HERE IN NEW YORK
CITY THAT EXAMINES THE
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE RISE OF
NATIONALISM AND CENSORSHIP OF
THE ARTS.
NEWSHOUR WEEKEND'S IVETTE
FELICIANO REPORTS.
>> Reporter: COUNTRIES FROM
POLAND TO HUNGARY TO TURKEY ARE
EXPERIENCING A RISE IN
NATIONALISM AND THE EFFECTS IT
CAN HAVE ON FREE SPEECH.
WHILE THIS TURMOIL GOES ON, A
NEW EXHIBIT AT NEW YORK'S NEUE
GALERIE, "BEFORE THE FALL,"
EXAMINES ART PRODUCED IN GERMANY
AND AUSTRIA UNDER THE THIRD
REICH AND WHAT CAN HAPPEN TO A
CULTURE WHEN FREE SPEECH IS
CURTAILED IN THE EXTREME.
>> THE IDEA BEHIND THE
EXHIBITION IS TO THINK ABOUT HOW
ARTISTS REACTED TO POLITICAL,
HISTORICAL CIRCUMSTANCES AND HOW
THEY WORK, EVOLVE DURING THE
1930s.
SO, IT WAS REALLY LIKE THINKING
ABOUT, IS THERE POTENTIAL IN ART
TO REFLECT ON HISTORICAL
CIRCUMSTANCES?
>> Reporter: DR. OLAF PETERS 
IS AN ART HISTORIAN AT GERMANY'S
MARTIN LUTHER UNIVERSITY AND 
THE EXHIBIT'S CURATOR.
THE SHOW IS A CONTINUATION OF
TWO PREVIOUS NEUE SHOWS.
"DEGENERATE ART" EXAMINED WORKS
THAT THE NAZI PARTY PUBLICLY
DENIGRATED WHILE "BERLIN
METROPOLIS" LOOKED AT THE RICH
ARTISTIC CULTURE OF GERMANY'S
CAPITAL IN THE 1920s.
ADOLF HITLER'S THIRD REICH
PURGED THE MODERN ART WORLD
AFTER COMING TO POWER IN 1933.
IT RAIDED THE INFLUENTIAL
BAUHAUS ART SCHOOL AND SHUT IT
DOWN.
IT DID THE SAME TO THE MODERN
ART WING OF THE GERMAN NATIONAL
GALLERY.
HITLER BANNED MANY ARTISTS FROM
CREATING ART ALTOGETHER.
>> YOU HAD AN EXTREMELY STRONG
AND RICH ART SCENE DURING THE
1920s IN GERMANY.
FOR ME, THE QUESTION WAS ALWAYS,
WHAT HAPPENED TO THIS ART SCENE?
>> Reporter: PETERS SAYS THAT
MANY ARTISTS CAMOUFLAGED THEIR
BELIEFS USING CONVENTIONAL ART
FORMS.
STILL LIFES AND PORTRAITS BECAME
HEAVY WITH SYMBOLISM.
LANDSCAPES, LIKE THE 1936
PAINTING "EXPECTATION" BY GERMAN
ARTIST RICHARD OELZE, DEPICTED
DARK AND FOREBODING SCENES.
>> IT'S A LITTLE BIT APOCALYPTIC
LANDSCAPE ON THE ONE SIDE IF YOU
HAVE, ON THE OTHER SIDE, A GROUP
OF PEOPLE STANDING THERE AND
LOOKING MAYBE INTO A DARK OR
UNKNOWN FUTURE.
>> Reporter: THOSE ARTISTS WHO
DID NOT CONFORM COULD NOT FIND A
SAFE VENUE FOR THEIR WORK.
HOW WAS THEIR WORK RECEIVED AT
THE TIME BY THE PUBLIC?
>> SOME ARE SO OVERT WHEN IT
COMES TO CRITIQUE OF THOSE
CIRCUMSTANCES, THE LIVING
CONDITIONS OF THE THIRD REICH,
THAT IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO... TO
SHOW THEM.
>> Reporter: ONE ARTIST WHO
CHOSE SELF-EXILE WAS THE GERMAN
PAINTER MAX BECKMANN, WHO LEFT
GERMANY FOR THE NETHERLANDS IN
1937.
THERE HE PAINTED A WORK CALLED
"BIRDS' HELL," WHICH CONTAINS
POLITICAL REFERENCES TO THE NAZI
PARTY.
>> IT WAS PAINTED ONE YEAR AFTER
MAX BECKMANN HAS LEFT... HAD
LEFT GERMANY.
AND IN AMSTERDAM, HE MADE THE
DECISION TO CREATE THIS ALLEGORY
OF HIS COUNTRY WHERE YOU CAN SEE
THE BIRDS TORTURING, FOR
EXAMPLE, SALUTING.
>> Reporter: SOME ARTISTS PAID
THE ULTIMATE PRICE FOR THEIR
WORK.
ONE WAS A JEWISH-AUSTRIAN ARTIST
NAMED FRIEDL DICKER-BRANDEIS.
>> SHE WAS HIGHLY POLITICAL.
SHE STUDIED AT THE BAUHAUS IN
WEIMAR IN GERMANY; WENT BACK TO
AUSTRIA AND DEVELOPED SOME, SAY,
POLITICAL MONTAGES OR COLLAGES
IN THE EARLY 1930s.
BUT SHE WAS CAPTURED.
SHE DEPICTED SOME INTERROGATIONS
WHICH ARE REALLY TOUCHING
BECAUSE YOU CAN SEE WHAT TORTURE
MEANT.
AND SHE WAS FINALLY BROUGHT INTO
AN EXTERMINATION CAMP AND WAS
KILLED.
>> Reporter: DR. PETERS SAYS 
THAT VISITORS TO THE EXHIBIT MAY
VIEW THESE OLDER WORKS IN A NEW
LIGHT, FOLLOWING A RECENT 
NATIONALIST SURGE IN EUROPE.
>> THE SITUATIONS ARE DIFFERENT,
AND HISTORY IS NOT REPEATING
ITSELF.
BUT, OF COURSE, YOU HAVE TO
LEARN FROM HISTORY, MAYBE THINK
ABOUT HOW TO... TO AVOID
DEVELOPMENTS WHICH ARE NOT...
NOT A LITTLE BIT SIMILAR, NOT
IDENTICAL, AND, YEAH, AND
BEING... BE AWARE OF YOUR
RESPONSIBILITY.
