New Objectivity Drawings at Musée de Grenoble

The Musée de Grenoble presents 'La nouvelle objectivité', an exhibition of drawings from the New Objectivity movement, running from February 16 to May 11, 2003. The show traces the movement from its verist left wing in Berlin and Dresden to the magic realist right wing in Munich, featuring works by Otto Dix, Max Beckmann, Georg Schrimpf, and others. Christian Schad, whose work is included, denied affiliation with the movement, which was named and defined by Gustav Hartlaub, director of the Kunsthalle Mannheim, in his 1925 exhibition. The exhibition includes drawings from the Weimar Republic era, reflecting the social crises and political tensions of the time, with a scenography that evokes the period's spectral atmosphere. Artists like Rudolf Schlichter and Karl Hubbuch capture urban life and social critique, while landscapes by Dix from the 1930s hint at inner exile under Nazism. The show also highlights influences from Italian metaphysical painting and anticipates pop art in its fascination with comics and advertising.