The Human Beast: German Expressionism at The San Diego Museum of Art

Featuring nine paintings on loan from the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza

San Diego, Calif.- The Human Beast: German Expressionism at The San Diego Museum of Artwill highlight the recent bequest of 48 German Expressionist paintings, watercolors, drawings, and prints from the Estate of Vance E. Kondon and Elisabeth Giesberger and will also feature nine oil paintings on loan from the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid, Spain. Accompanied by additional works from the Museum’s permanent collection and private loans, The Human Beast will display a total of 84 works starting July 21, 2012.

The exhibition, dedicated to the modernist movement that developed in Germany and Austria in the early twentieth century, will offer a broad survey of German Expressionism.  Expressionism was not the work of a single, closely associated group of artists, but, rather, it is a movement associated with painters, sculptors, and printmakers in Berlin, Dresden, Munich, and Vienna who were united by common interests and artistic styles. Together, they created art that explored themes such as primitivism, raw emotion, the solace of nature, the terror of the First World War, and the social chaos of Weimar Germany. Depictions of unidealized nudes and prostitution are likewise typical of the Expressionists’ attempt to evoke primal emotion. The Human Beast will explore the complexity of these themes. 

“We recognize this movement among the most relevant of the past century. It is with great pride that we receive this loan from the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, such a prominent international institution,” says Roxana Velasquez, Maruja Baldwin Director of The San Diego Museum of Art.“With the addition of the nine oils, the exhibition tells a comprehensive story of German Expressionism. The exhibition truly reflects the soul and spirit of human beings as they navigated the emotions, and questioned the social movements, surrounding World War I.” 

Works of art on loan from the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza include paintings by George Grosz, Egon Schiele, and Wassily Kandinsky, among others.  Major new acquisitions from the Kondon-Giesberger bequest include paintings by Otto Dix, Gabriele Münter, and Max Pechstein, as well as watercolors and drawings by Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Ernst Kirchner, and Emil Nolde. These join a strong group of Expressionist paintings and drawings that have long been at the Museum, among which works by Alexei Jawlensky, Gabriele Münter, Max Beckmann, and George Grosz are particularly notable.

Museum Information:

The San Diego Museum of Art is located at 1450 El Prado in Balboa Park, San Diego, Calif., 92101. General Information, (619) 232-7931, Group Sales: (619) 696-1935, Website: http://www.TheSanDiegoMuseumofArt.org, Twitter: @SDMA, Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheSanDiegoMuseumofArt

The San Diego Museum of Art provides a rich and diverse cultural experience for 350,000 visitors annually. Located in the heart of beautiful Balboa Park, the Museum’s nationally renowned collections include Spanish and Italian old masters, South Asian paintings, and 19th and 20th century American paintings and sculptures. The Museum regularly features major exhibitions of art from around the world, as well as an extensive year-round schedule supporting cultural and educational programs for children and adults. At The San Diego Museum of Art, exhibition text is always in English and Spanish.

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