Unlike some of the other Verists, Christian Schad had no need to delve into caricatures of humans. He was fully capable of making us squirm with excruciating realism alone, such as that found in Self Portrait (1927). Now, you're left with no doubt as to why these two people are here, but it was very clearly a joyless act. Schad is unsparing of himself; he is troubled looking, neither naked nor clothed and, though in the foreground, most definitely not the dominant force in the scene. The woman, on the other hand, is so obviously in charge that she is defiantly nude and almost palpably bored. Honestly? She scares me. I'm convinced that scar on her left cheek came by way of some dominatrix duel with sabers or horsewhips - and, no, there is absolutely no factual basis for my saying that.
About the show:
The years of the Weimar Republic in Germany were short, sad and, particularly in Berlin, spectacular. A contingent of German visual artists moved on from Dada to Neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity), from which a leftist sub-branch now known as Verism arose.
The Verist works on view in this exhibition were painted during a society's death spiral. Prostitutes, war cripples, transvestites, wealthy industrialists, doctors, lawyers and, yes, often the Verist artists themselves, are captured here in a now-lost era. Less 'enjoyable' than many themed exhibitions, Glitter and Doom... is superlative at compelling the viewer to look and think.
"Glitter and Doom: German Portraits from the 1920s" is on view from November 14, 2006 – February 19, 2007 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street, New York, NY 10028-0198. (Telephone: 212-535-7710; Website). The museum is open Tuesday through Thursday and Sunday from 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM, Friday and Saturday from 9:30 AM to 9:00 PM. Suggested admission is $20.00 for adults, $15.00 for seniors and $10.00 for students. Paid parking is available in the Museum Garage.