German show traces Nazi-era artists' success after the war

A new show examining how some of the Nazis' favorite visual artists were able to successfully continue their work in postwar Germany is set to open in Berlin this week

BERLIN -- A new show examining how some of the Nazis' favorite visual artists were able to successfully continue their work in postwar Germany is set to open in Berlin this week. “Divinely Gifted. National Socialism's favored artists in the Federal Republic” opens Friday at the German Historical Museum. It traces the careers and works of many who figured on a list of “Divinely Gifted" artists, compiled in 1944 on behalf of Adolf Hitler and Joseph Goebbels. In contrast, Jewish artists and those critical of the Nazis were defamed and persecuted while their works were banned from museums as so-called “degenerate art.” The “Divinely Gifted” list contained the names of more than 100 painters and sculptors counted among the most important representatives of the National Socialists' cultural output. They were considered so useful to the Nazis' propaganda efforts that they were spared conscription into the armed forces.