The Artists Studio EW NAY

A visit to the studio of Ernst Wilhelm Nay a remarkable if somewhat solitary German artist who established his status at age 30 just before the advent of the Nazi takeover Nay belonged to the persecuted generation of German artists who just as their work began to blossom were forced out by Hitlers art dictatorship Labeling the art decadent the Hitler regime called for the removal of Nays paintings from museum collections and the artist was banned from showcasing his new work After the end of World War II Nay returned to painting and worked tirelessly to make up for lost time producing new pieces year after year and quickly becoming one of Germanys leading painters Ernst Wilhelm Nay died in 1968 at the age of 65 yet his studio still intact offers a retrospective of his work starting from the 1920s His wife Elisabeth Nay walks us through the studio offering insights into her husbands process and creative intent