REIMS.- A new and innovative artistic insight into the First World War: by comparing the way artists from both sides depicted the conflict a German museum – the Von der Heydt-Museum in Wuppertal – and a French museum – Reims Fine Arts Museum. By displaying German and French works together, the two museums reveal the cultural similarities and divergences between their countries. The historical period chosen includes the periods before and after the First World War. The choice of key themes – in particular the focus on life away from the trenches – provides an insight into society during wartime. They challenge the veracity of certain clichés that have become an integral part of our mindsets, set in stone in the collective conscience of each the two Nations.

“Concerning the stage in Reims, the exhibition, organised into ten sections, displays works by different categories of artists: famous, unknown, official, avant-garde... Some of them focus on the harsh reality of life in the trenches while others look at how the war affected civilians, in particular: the lot of women and children, obliterated countryside, the ruins, a heritage that died for France, leisure, the Golden Twenties with an acidic aftertaste. The artists featured include: Max Beckmann, Antoine Bourdelle, Max Slevogt, George Desvallières, Maurice Denis, Otto Dix, Jean-Louis Forain, Oskar Kokoschka.”

Artists, of course, but were they neutral, belligerent or pacifists?
Paintings, sculptures, graphic works, documents from the permanent collections of the two museums co-producing the exhibition, as well as other German and French museums, enable visitors to compare certain parts of the history of European art, contaminated by history. From 1910 onwards, nationalism began to be depicted in both France and Germany. During the war, the romantic “culture” of ruins left by the 19th century sometimes contributed to propaganda in France. Moreover, in the two countries, the Golden Twenties were a bitter-sweet reaction to the suffering and misery of four years of carnage and deprivation. On both sides of the border, artists tackled fundamental questions about their respective societies and the meaning of life. The wounded, widows, war profiteers, the poor…these different players contributed to a gloomy picture of society a harbinger of the sombre thirties.

Sometimes striking parallels between French and German artists
Forming a type of artistic trench, the French and German works are displayed face-to-face. The symbol of the French cock signed in 1910 by the famous French poster art designer Leonetto Cappiello contrasts with several representations of the German eagle. References to Graeco-Roman Antiquity, on both sides of the Rhine, further reinforce the notion of patriotism with the works of George Desvallières contrasting with those of Max Slevogt. A horrifying series of works by Otto Dix dealing with the theme of death is compared with those by little-known French artists from the period of the war or the Belgian Henry de Groux. Gert Wolheim’s “The Wounded Man” stands directly opposite “La Patrie Champagne” (The Homeland Champagne) by Jean-Georges Cornelius. An amputee artist, drawn by Forain, is displayed opposite works by Kokoschka and Dix. Lastly, for the twenties, Cappiello’s “l’Arlequin blessé” (The Injured Harlequin) establishes a form of dialogue with the dark “Self-portrait as a clown” by Max Beckmann. The exhibition’s focus on comparison draws heavily on the outstanding collection of Reims Art Museum concerning the war: the Lemétais collection made up of works by some 145 artists. The aim is also to pay tribute to these numerous French artists who, although forgotten, deserve to be associated with the major names of European art.

A feature specific to France: the theme of ruins
Starting in 1914, the damage caused to heritage by the Germans in a large part of the north-eastern France was a new phenomenon resulting in horror, strong emotions and a morbid fascination. In the heart of this battered heritage “sacrificed for France”, Reims Cathedral burnt down in 1919 became a genuine “legacy of German barbarity” committed during the First World War. Several artists went much further than a realist approach to the subject. They drew inspiration from Dark Romanticism with contributions from Fauvism and Cubism, and the last avatars of Impressionism (Adrien Sénéchal), and Symbolism (Rochegrosse, Bourdelle, Emile Wéry…). After lengthy debates in France and elsewhere regarding the rebuilding of the cathedral, the Franco-German reconciliation of 1962, commemorated in 2012, the process of installing stained-glass windows created by a contemporary German artist (Imi Knoebel), Reims Cathedral has become a strong symbol of European unity.

Reims Art Museum is home to one of the most prestigious collections in provincial France. Consequently, it covers the most important artistic movements ranging from the 15th to the 20th century, through paintings, sculptures and also furniture and art objects. It regularly works with leading museums to organise temporary exhibitions featuring the works of Corot, Foujita, Sarrabezolles, an Art Deco Retrospective…

In Reims, the commemoration of the centenary of the First World War is faithful to the city’s own identity and history : a clear-minded retrospective of a painful (difficult) past and a resolutely upbeat focus on the future and friendship between the people of Europe. The Von der Heydt-Museum, an internationally renowned German museum, sets itself the same goal in other words enabling a wide audience – in particular younger generations – to take up a crucial historical episode, and learn the reality of the past in order to understand the present ; the ultimate aim is to anticipate the future (in order to be ready to cope with it).