Editing Degenerate art (section)

{{Short description|Pejorative term used by the Nazi Party for modern art}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2022}}
[[File:Ausstellung entartete kunst 1937.jpg|thumb|[[Joseph Goebbels]] views the [[Degenerate Art Exhibition]].]]
'''Degenerate art''' ({{langx|de|Entartete Kunst}}{{--)}} was a term adopted in the 1920s by the [[Nazi Party]] in Germany to describe [[modern art]]. During the dictatorship of [[Adolf Hitler]], [[German art#20th century|German modernist art]], including many works of internationally renowned artists, was removed from state-owned museums and banned in [[Nazi Germany]] on the grounds that such art was an "insult to German feeling", un-German, [[Freemasonic]], [[Jewish]], or [[Communist]] in nature. Those identified as degenerate artists were subjected to sanctions that included being dismissed from teaching positions, being forbidden to exhibit or to sell their art, and in some cases being forbidden to produce art.

''Degenerate Art'' also was the title of a [[Degenerate Art Exhibition|1937 exhibition]] held by the Nazis in [[Munich]], consisting of 650 [[modernist]] artworks that the Nazis had taken from museums, that were poorly hung alongside graffiti and text labels mocking the art and the artists.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Degenerate Art |url=https://fcit.usf.edu/holocaust/arts/artdegen.htm |access-date=2023-06-13 |website=fcit.usf.edu}}</ref> Designed to inflame public opinion against modernism, the exhibition subsequently traveled to several other cities in Germany and [[Austria]].

While modern styles of art were prohibited, the Nazis promoted paintings and sculptures that were traditional in manner and that exalted the "[[Blood and Soil|blood and soil]]" values of [[Racial hygiene|racial purity]], [[militarism]], and [[Obedience (human behavior)#Cultural attitudes|obedience]]. Similar restrictions were placed upon music, which was expected to be [[Tonality|tonal]] and free of any [[jazz]] influences; disapproved music was termed [[degenerate music]]. Films and plays were also [[censorship|censored]].<ref name=":0">{{cite web |url=http://www.moma.org/collection/theme.php?theme_id=10077 |title=The Collection &#124; Entartete Kunst |publisher=MoMA |access-date=12 August 2010}}</ref>