Artists and Society

Examines painters as a creative professional group in the context of developing German nationalism, and cultural rivalry between Germany and France. It contrasts the careers of officially favoured figures such as Anton with those of controversial figures, like Max Lieberman and Lovis Corinth.

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This wide-ranging and original study examines painters as a creative professional group in the context of developing German nationalism, and cultural rivalry between Germany and France. It contrast the careers of officially-favoured figures such as Anton or Werner with those of controversial outsiders like Max Liebermann, Wilhelm Leibl and Lovis Corinth. It explores the links between artists' fortunes, economic and political change, and the shifting relative importance of Germany's major art centres: Dresden, Dusseldorf, Munich and the increasingly wealthy and dynamic Reich capital, Berlin. A central theme is the development of the art market in the vital formative decades between the onset of the industrial revolution and the outbreak of the First World War, a period that witnesses growing market integration, links with tourism and the emergence of a pervasive dealer network. AT the same time private art buying expanded rapidly and Germany's public galleries of modern painting achieved an international stature rivalled only by those of the United States.