Association Of Revolutionary Visual Artists
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The Association of Revolutionary Visual Artists of Germany (German: ''Assoziation revolutionärer bildender Künstler Deutschlands'', or ARBKD) was an organization of artists who were members of the
Communist Party of Germany The Communist Party of Germany (, ; KPD ) was a major Far-left politics, far-left political party in the Weimar Republic during the interwar period, German resistance to Nazism, underground resistance movement in Nazi Germany, and minor party ...
(''Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands'', or KPD). Known primarily by its shortened name, "Asso", it was founded in March 1928. The organization produced posters, placards, and
propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...
graphics for Communist organizations.


History

The ''
Rote Fahne ''Die Rote Fahne'' (, ''The Red Flag'') was a German newspaper originally founded in 1876 by Socialist Worker's Party leader Wilhelm Hasselmann, and which has been since published on and off, at times underground, by German Socialists and Commun ...
'' reported on 19 June 1928 that the Asso had been founded as a "brother organization" to the Association of Revolutionary Artists of Russia."1918-1933: Assoziation Revolutionärer Bildender Künstler Deutschlands"
Deutsches Historisches Museum The German Historical Museum (), known by the acronym DHM, is a museum in Berlin, Germany devoted to German history. It describes itself as a place of "enlightenment and understanding of the shared history of Germans and Europeans". It is often ...
. Retrieved January 24, 2012
In spring 1931, the name was changed from "Assoziation" to "Bund" ("Federation"). Left-wing artists had already formed groups, such as the November Group,
Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an anti-establishment art movement that developed in 1915 in the context of the Great War and the earlier anti-art movement. Early centers for dadaism included Zürich and Berlin. Within a few years, the movement had s ...
ist groups, or from 1924 to 1926, the Red Group, with which
George Grosz George Grosz (; ; born Georg Ehrenfried Groß; July 26, 1893 – July 6, 1959) was a German artist known especially for his caricatural drawings and paintings of Berlin life in the 1920s. He was a prominent member of the Berlin Dada and New Obj ...
,
John Heartfield John Heartfield (born Helmut Herzfeld; 19 June 1891 – 26 April 1968) was a German visual artist who pioneered the use of art as a political weapon. Some of his most famous photomontages were anti-Nazi and anti-fascist statements. Heartfield a ...
and
Rudolf Schlichter Rudolf Schlichter (or Rudolph Schlichter) (December 6, 1890 – May 3, 1955) was a German painter, engraver and writer. He was one of the most important representatives of the critical-realistic style of verism within the New Objectivity movement ...
were involved.
Heinrich Vogeler Johann Heinrich Vogeler (December 12, 1872 – June 14, 1942) was a German people, German painter, designer, and architect, associated with the Düsseldorf school of painting. Early life He was born in Bremen, and studied at the Kunstakadem ...
had also formed the ''Arbeitsgemeinschaft kommunistischer Künstler'' ("Working Group of Communist Artists"). Further impetus to form a larger organization came from the "Central
Atelier An atelier () is the private workshop or studio of a professional artist in the fine or decorative arts or an architect, where a principal master and a number of assistants, students, and apprentices can work together producing fine art or vi ...
for Visual Propaganda", an arm of the KPD offices at the
Karl-Liebknecht-Haus The Karl-Liebknecht-Haus or ''Karl Liebknecht House'' is the headquarters of the party ''The Left (Germany), The Left'' in Germany. It is located between Alexanderplatz and Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz in Berlin-Mitte. Constructed in 1912 as a factory, ...
in Berlin. Several groups joined the Asso. The , where artist Gregor Gog was active, joined the Asso in 1931. In 1932, the group "The Moderns" ("Die Zeitgemäßen"), headed by Oskar Nerlinger and previously called "The Abstracts", joined as well. The Asso also embraced Franz Wilhelm Seiwert's group of progressive artists, the
Cologne Progressives The Cologne Progressives was an art movement and were an informal group of artists based in the Cologne and Düsseldorf area of Germany. They came together following the First World War and participated in the radical workers' movement. History ...
, and the "Collective for Socialist Building". The Asso published a journal called ''Der Stoßtrupp'' and its first exhibition was in Berlin in 1929. For many Communist artists, art was a "weapon" to be used rallying the masses to the
class struggle In political science, the term class conflict, class struggle, or class war refers to the economic antagonism and political tension that exist among social classes because of clashing interests, competition for limited resources, and inequali ...
. Accordingly, the Asso produced placards, posters, propaganda art and banners for the Communist Party, Rote Hilfe and other organizations. The 1932 logo of Antifaschistische Aktion was designed by and for the Asso and since the 1980s has been widely used in modified form in Germany and globally by Antifa groups. The organization, with 800 members, was banned after the Nazis seized power in 1933.


Notable members

* Karl von Appen, 1932 * , 1929 * , 1928 (Berlin) * Rudolf Bergander, 1930 (Dresden) * , Brotherhood of Vagabonds * Erich Arnold Bischof * , 1929? (Dresden) * * , 1928 (Berlin) * 1931 (Berlin) * Alfred Frank (Leipzig) * 1929 (Berlin) The Abstracts * * 1928 (Berlin) Karl-Liebknecht-Haus * Gregor Gog, Brotherhood of Vagabonds * Otto Griebel, 1929 (Dresden) *
George Grosz George Grosz (; ; born Georg Ehrenfried Groß; July 26, 1893 – July 6, 1959) was a German artist known especially for his caricatural drawings and paintings of Berlin life in the 1920s. He was a prominent member of the Berlin Dada and New Obj ...
(Berlin) * Lea and Hans Grundig, 1929 * (Dresden) * Eugen Hoffmann 1929 (Dresden) * 1930 (Dresden) * Heinz Kiwitz (Duisburg)Biografie: 1927–1931
Heinz Kiwitz website. Click on list at left of frame, "Vita: Biografie" Retrieved February 11, 2012
* Wilhelm Lachnit 1929 (Dresden) * (Düsseldorf) * Julo Levin (Düsseldorf) * (Dresden) * Peter Ludwigs (Düsseldorf) * (Leipzig) * Alice Lex-Nerlinger and Oskar Nerlinger 1928 (Berlin) * Otto Nagel 1928, co-founder (Berlin) *
Laszlo Peri Peter Laszlo Peri (born László Weisz; 13 June 1899 – 19 January 1967) was an artist and sculptor. Name changes László Weisz was born on 13 June 1899 in Budapest, Hungary. His family Magyarized their family name to "''Péri''". When he mo ...
1928 * Curt Querner 1930 (Dresden) * Herbert Sandberg 1929 (Berlin) * 1930? (Dresden) * Eva Schulze-Knabe 1929 (Dresden) * 1929 (Dresden) * (Düsseldorf) * 1930 (Dresden)


Sources

* ''Meyers Großes Taschenlexikon, in 24 Bd.'' Bd 2. BI-Taschenbuch, Mannheim/Vienna/Zurich (1987) * ''Meyers Kleines Lexikon, in 3 Bd.'' Vol. 1, Leipzig (1967, 1971)


References

{{Authority control 1928 establishments in Germany Political organizations established in 1928 Communist organisations in Germany Communist Party of Germany