{"id":860,"date":"2026-02-18T03:18:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T03:18:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/hist582-exhibition-practicum\/?p=860"},"modified":"2026-02-25T06:19:27","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T06:19:27","slug":"always-modern-sometimes-confusing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/hist582-exhibition-practicum\/2026\/02\/18\/always-modern-sometimes-confusing\/","title":{"rendered":"Always Modern, Sometimes Confusing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I walked into the St. Louis Art Museum ready to see \u201cthe German modernism exhibit,\u201d only to realize that asking for it was like asking where they keep the art. SLAM\u2019s German collection is sprawling. Luckily, an employee saw through my confusion, offered me a map, and directed me to the rotating exhibit titled always modern<\/em>. Map in hand and mission in mind, I made a beeline to the galleries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Always modern<\/em> offers flashes of brilliance\u2014especially in its Symbolist and Expressionist sections\u2014but the exhibition\u2019s coherence is weakened by puzzling curatorial choices, particularly the distracting placement of furniture that never quite fits the narrative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The exhibition\u2019s Big Idea: a century of German art framed as \u2018always modern,\u2019 setting expectations the galleries sometimes met \u2014 and sometimes struggled to sustain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Upon my arrival, I was immediately underwhelmed. The lighting was dim and dingy, and I soon laid eyes upon a cart of chairs that were certainly NOT representative of the period. I turned my gaze to a rather helpful description of the exhibit. The period, I was authoritatively informed, would cover Germany from 1880-1970 and emphasized that though more than a century old at this point, the objects on display would be immediately recognizable to a denizen of the 21st<\/sup> century. This prompted me to re-engage with a recurring theme in art museums: What is modernity? A 19th-century dresser recognizable today complicates the category more than any utopian fantasy ever could.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My idle musings on turn-of-the-century furniture complete, I made my way to the right where I met the gaze of one of Max Beckmann\u2019s many self-portraits. I was assured by the label that this was one of many such self-portraits. As the exhibit did not contain any additional Beckmann portraits, it was an assertion I had to take on faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Max Beckmann\u2019s lone self\u2011portrait in the show \u2014 compelling, but presented without the comparative context the label promised.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

My slight disappointment with the distinct lack of more Beckmann was immediately lifted once I moved counterclockwise to the Symbolist portion of the exhibit. I have been obsessed with this movement for months now and Klinger\u2019s print cycle Eve and the Future<\/em> did not disappoint. I was most drawn to the third panel depicting the Fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Klinger\u2019s Symbolist masterpiece: dreamlike, unsettling, and the emotional center of the exhibition.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Unlike most depictions, the only subjects are Eve and the Serpent. Also, unlike most depictions, the Serpent is holding a mirror which Eve is gazing into. This is quintessential symbolism \u2013 familiar themes interspersed with the unfamiliar enriched by an otherworldly quality that draws you in and doesn\u2019t let you go. All six prints had this intoxicating quality about them. Indeed, the figure of Death standing triumphant over Adam and Eve\u2019s graves (depicted in the sixth panel) still lingers in my mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally tearing my eyes away from Herr Klinger\u2019s work, I continued counterclockwise to an uninspiring array of furniture. The Jugendstil <\/em>corner felt like an afterthought. Though the objects were period\u2011appropriate, their selection lacked thematic coherence, and the display diluted the exhibition\u2019s focus. A more intentional in situ<\/em> arrangement would have strengthened the interpretive message.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
A representative but thematically scattered selection of Jugendstil furniture \u2014 a section whose placement diluted the exhibition\u2019s focus.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Thankfully, my confusion concerning Jugendstil<\/em> furniture was happily allayed by a charming and unique interpretation of Arnold B\u00f6cklin\u2019s Venus Anadyomene<\/em>. I appreciated the curatorship here \u2013 the painting was placed by Klinger\u2019s work, illustrating the chain of inspiration that led to Eve and the Future<\/em>. This curatorial decision enhanced the thematic consistency of the painting portion of the gallery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having completed my time in the first gallery, I moved into the next room where I was greeted with some unique furniture courtesy of Germany\u2019s 20th<\/sup> century Bauhaus <\/em>movement. This section made slightly more sense\u2014art and design are inseparable in the movement \u2014but the placement of Feininger\u2019s The Glorious Victory of the Sloop “Maria”<\/em> remained puzzling. If he had a Bauhaus<\/em> connection, the exhibition didn\u2019t communicate it; if he didn\u2019t, the juxtaposition only muddied the metaphorical waters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The highlight of this gallery, however, were four works highlighting the German Expressionist movement of the early 20th<\/sup> century. The selection — two hellish landscapes executed by Ludwig Meidner, a psychedelic circus depiction by Ernst Kirchner (pictured below), and an idyllic woodland trio of female figures by Otto Mueller \u2013 offered a diverse set of portraits that highlighted the artistic movement\u2019s complexity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
A tightly curated Expressionist grouping that showcased the movement\u2019s emotional range and stood out as the exhibition\u2019s most coherent moment. Far out, man…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t mistake my criticism for cynicism. All told, the exhibition was well-executed. The big idea of the exhibit was clearly communicated in the introductory label and pertinent. However, the other interpretive texts would have benefited from a clearer tie into the exhibit\u2019s raison d\u2019\u00eatre<\/em>. Ultimately, the exhibition delivered a thoughtful survey of German modernism, even if its ambitions occasionally outpaced its coherence. A bit more focus \u2014 especially in the integration of furniture \u2014 would have strengthened an altogether positive experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I walked into the St. Louis Art Museum ready to see \u201cthe German modernism exhibit,\u201d only to realize that asking for it was like asking where they keep the art. SLAM\u2019s German collection is sprawling. Luckily, an employee saw through my confusion, offered me a map, and directed me to the rotating exhibit titled always […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":849,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sb_is_suggestion_mode":false,"_sb_show_suggestion_boards":false,"_sb_show_comment_boards":false,"_sb_suggestion_history":"","_sb_update_block_changes":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","post-preview"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/hist582-exhibition-practicum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/hist582-exhibition-practicum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/hist582-exhibition-practicum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/hist582-exhibition-practicum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/849"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/hist582-exhibition-practicum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=860"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/hist582-exhibition-practicum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":902,"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/hist582-exhibition-practicum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860\/revisions\/902"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/hist582-exhibition-practicum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/hist582-exhibition-practicum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/hist582-exhibition-practicum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}