Daniel Richter on Emil Nolde

Emil Nolde was a Nazi and so what asks contemporary German artist Daniel Richter Its a moralistic debate A debate that mirrors the moralism and bigottery of a generation that seems to think that the world is a moral playground Emil Noldes relationship to the Naziregime in the Third Reich has given rise to immense discussions within the last months For decades the broader public had a picture of Nolde being one of the entartete artists as well as being prohibited painting by the Naziregime Though this on the surface is true it was the result of a great disappointment to Nolde For years he had strived to become the artist of the Thrid Reich praising his own art as true German antiFrench and antiJewish Possible competitors within the German art world like Max Pechstein he actively denounced to the Nazi authorities