Käthe Kollwitz and Otto Nagel: Two Exhibitions of “Progressive Artists” at the Zachęta in the Framework of Cultural Cooperation with the German Democratic Republic

Abstract

The essay focuses on a discussion of two exhibitions hosted at the Zachęta Central Bureau of Art Exhibitions in Warsaw that were organised in collaboration with the Committee for Cultural Cooperation with Foreign Countries. This Committee, which existed in the years 1950–1956, was an offi cial agency responsible for Poland’s cultural relations with foreign countries. Its programme refl ected the state policy and focused on cooperation with countries of the Eastern bloc. The events discussed in the essay were organised as part of the cooperation with the German Democratic Republic; they were solo exhibitions of the work of two German artists, Käthe Kollwitz in 1951 and Otto Nagel in 1955. They were linked by the person of the painter Otto Nagel, who, being the guardian of Kollwitz’s legacy, acted as the commissioner of her posthumous exhibition. The essay contains a critical analysis of the texts published in the catalogues and of other printed matter associated with the exhibitions as well as an analysis of related press reviews.