Klaus Wolbert's Monumental Study on Nazi Sculpture Published by Allemandi

Klaus Wolbert, born in 1940 and known in Italy for his work with the VAF Foundation promoting modern and contemporary Italian art, has published a comprehensive study on Nazi sculpture. His book, "Scultura programmatica nel Terzo Reich. Corpi dogmatici, letali dettami di bellezza," released in German as "Dogmatische Körper – Perfide Schönheitsdiktate" in 2019, is the culmination of research begun in the 1970s. The volume, published by Allemandi, is a 408-page tome that, despite its table-book format, is a rigorous scholarly essay. It features an extensive photographic apparatus, mostly period images, since most Nazi sculptures were destroyed shortly after World War II. The book examines how the cult of the Aryan race and its physical form was mobilized through monumental propaganda sculpture, co-opting classical ideals for political and ideological ends. It covers artists such as Arno Breker and Josef Thorak, and includes chapters on Nietzsche, naturism, genocidal physician Karl Brandt, and art historian Johann Joachim Winckelmann. The work provides a 360-degree view of a seemingly peripheral aspect of Nazi ideology.