August Sander's 'People of the 20th Century' at Yale University Art Gallery
The Yale University Art Gallery is currently hosting a major exhibition featuring all of August Sander's 'People of the 20th Century,' which includes about 600 portraits. This collection, created between 1910 and 1950, aimed to capture a wide range of professions and social groups in Germany. Curator Judy Ditner has organized the show into sections like Farmers, Classes and Professions, and the Last People, highlighting figures like German President Paul von Hindenburg and Raoul Hausmann. Sander, associated with the New Objectivity movement, faced backlash from right-wing groups, and the Nazis destroyed some of his work. Additionally, the exhibition includes portfolios of Holocaust victims. Sander passed away in 1964.
Key facts
- Yale University Art Gallery shows complete 'People of the 20th Century' series.
- Series includes about six hundred portraits.
- Sander worked from about 1910 to 1950.
- Exhibition curated by Judy Ditner.
- Sander associated with New Objectivity movement.
- Series includes categories: Farmer, Classes and Professions, Skilled Tradesman, Artists, City, Woman, Last People.
- Portraits include Paul von Hindenburg and Raoul Hausmann.
- 'Face of our Time' (1929) condemned by right-wing critics.
- Nazis destroyed Sander's printing plates and burned his books.
- Includes portfolios of political prisoners and Jews.
- Erich appears as working student, philosophy undergrad, political prisoner, and death mask.
- Erich died in captivity in 1944.
- Sander died in 1964.
Entities
Artists
- August Sander
- Karl Blossfeldt
- Albert Renger-Patzsch
- Alfred Stieglitz
- Hannah Höch
- Raoul Hausmann
- Diane Arbus
- Eugène Atget
- Walter Benjamin
Institutions
- Yale University Art Gallery
- New Objectivity
Locations
- Cologne
- Germany
- Westerwald