When looking at the state of post World War 1 Germany, you might be lead to believe that the Weimar Republic and its failures led to the rise of Nazism. However, in Modris Ekstein’s Solar Dance: Genius, Forgery, and the Crisis of Truth in the Modern Age, he argues otherwise. True, that the Weimar Republic was crippled due to the Great Depression and political infighting, but Ekstein argues that art played a subtle role in the fall of the Republic. Ekstein’s chapter, The Issue, introduces us to Otto Wacker whom was a real-life person involved in selling fraudulent Vincent Van Gogh paintings to the public. He argues that Wacker “is in many ways a symbol of the Weimar Republic… [whom] represented [its] volatility, aspirations, its energy, as well
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Although Otto Wacker was at his prime in March 1928, it only took 4 years to bring a youthful man into a mastermind who is in danger of being behind bars. An important part in Otto Wacker’s scheme was the usage of Vincent Van Gogh and his popular paintings to make bank. Vincent Van Gogh, in Ekstein’s words describing him, was “central to this drama….[because] his life story and art are key evidence of…[the] crisis that marks modernism” (p.8). What Ekstein means is that Vincent Van Gogh’s humiliating personal life and his art resonated with the modern world, particularly Interwar Germany. Germany, destroyed and beaten down like a dog, sought to find someone they can relate to lighten the stress and they found that through Van Gogh. As a result, his paintings have become wildly popular and his status has been elevated into a near-god. Ekstein argues that because of people’s need to relate to Van Gogh, this blindness led Wacker to be able to dupe the public and erode the certainty of his sold …show more content…
During the 1920s, a book by the name of Vincent ,written by Meier-Graefe, was introduced to the public to his life and his artworks. It was a resounding success with people buying as many books as they can but also buying his artworks too. Ekstein beautifully summarizes their mindset into “Van Gogh is us, we are Van Gogh” (p.113). This kind of mindset was almost on every German’s head and at that time, Wacker was able to start selling his fake Van Gogh paintings. At first, he was able to convince the public through the use of authenticity by the experts. By doing this, Wacker was able to convince potential buyers that his sold artwork was genuine to them. Certainty, certainty was key to Wacker’s selling point because he needed the help of experts and Ekstein notes that in his Certifiers chapter. He included this part because later on, the trial of Wacker reveals that these experts that Wacker hired were biased. The critic Meier-Graefe was one of the experts and revealed that he “developed a relationship so warm that [he] found it..impossible to look at the Wacker paintings with...objectivity” (p.119). At least in Ekstein’s words, this bias harms the certainty of Wacker’s paintings because of the intimacy between the seller and the critic. Authority of power was ruined by Wacker because of his false
Although Otto Wacker was at his prime in March 1928, it only took 4 years to bring a youthful man into a mastermind who is in danger of being behind bars. An important part in Otto Wacker’s scheme was the usage of Vincent Van Gogh and his popular paintings to make bank. Vincent Van Gogh, in Ekstein’s words describing him, was “central to this drama….[because] his life story and art are key evidence of…[the] crisis that marks modernism” (p.8). What Ekstein means is that Vincent Van Gogh’s humiliating personal life and his art resonated with the modern world, particularly Interwar Germany. Germany, destroyed and beaten down like a dog, sought to find someone they can relate to lighten the stress and they found that through Van Gogh. As a result, his paintings have become wildly popular and his status has been elevated into a near-god. Ekstein argues that because of people’s need to relate to Van Gogh, this blindness led Wacker to be able to dupe the public and erode the certainty of his sold …show more content…
During the 1920s, a book by the name of Vincent ,written by Meier-Graefe, was introduced to the public to his life and his artworks. It was a resounding success with people buying as many books as they can but also buying his artworks too. Ekstein beautifully summarizes their mindset into “Van Gogh is us, we are Van Gogh” (p.113). This kind of mindset was almost on every German’s head and at that time, Wacker was able to start selling his fake Van Gogh paintings. At first, he was able to convince the public through the use of authenticity by the experts. By doing this, Wacker was able to convince potential buyers that his sold artwork was genuine to them. Certainty, certainty was key to Wacker’s selling point because he needed the help of experts and Ekstein notes that in his Certifiers chapter. He included this part because later on, the trial of Wacker reveals that these experts that Wacker hired were biased. The critic Meier-Graefe was one of the experts and revealed that he “developed a relationship so warm that [he] found it..impossible to look at the Wacker paintings with...objectivity” (p.119). At least in Ekstein’s words, this bias harms the certainty of Wacker’s paintings because of the intimacy between the seller and the critic. Authority of power was ruined by Wacker because of his false