Kristi V. Shanahan
The French Assembly had been the soul of political life in France during the three French republics. This was summarily dismissed after the Armistice. Now, the French government would rule from Vichy, a town that, previous to 1940, had generally been known for its healing spas. Vichy lay just south of the line that divided the country into the free and occupied zones (see map).vii This line was real; members of the newly formed government had to ask the German occupiers for permission to cross the line, if they needed to visit or consult with their subordinates still in Paris. Needless to say, trips were strictly limited, and forbidden to Jews.viii
For those in the art world, those who owned and ran galleries in Paris and elsewhere, permission would be needed, too, before an exposition could be held. Such was the new, drastically altered atmosphere in France. What was needed was approval from the German “Propaganda-Abteilung,” the right arm of Hitler’s plan for the removal of all decadent art in France. It was through that arm that all functions regarding exhibitions, from advertising to specific works of art to be displayed would be handled. German
referats
-- spies, basically -- made a visit to the gallery to grant their yea or nay.ixAn interesting development occurred: the number of galleries that opened during the first three months of the occupation nearly doubled!
And, by the end of that first year -- 1941 -- the Orangerie, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, and the Musée Galliéra had had their first expositions. The newly completed Palais de Tokyo hosted shows from the Salon des Artistes Français, the Salon des Tuileries, the Salon d’Automne, and the Salon des Indépendants, made famous by the Impressionists of the previous century. It seemed that galleries were popping up everywhere, in spite of the stranglehold. The new Jeunes Peintres de Tradition Françaisex had their show in May of that year. These “young painters of the French tradition” would typify the art that was to come, to be heralded, by the new Nazi regime in France. No artistic exhibition held in a venue governed by the new French administration would allow Jewish artists to exhibit, however. Actually, this new administration would not allow Jews to exhibit anywhere in France. Picasso, himself, though not a Jew, was forbidden to show his work as well. He was not only a representative of the “degenerate art” held so odious to Hitler, but was already considered a subversive painter after the unveiling of his “Guernica” at the Paris Exposition of 1937. (This will be discussed and included as a lesson plan later on.) Those artists who had emigrated to France, mostly Jews, were blacklisted by the Vichy government, so none of their works would be allowed to hang in any permanent collections. As far as private collections were concerned, those in houses confiscated by the Germans when Jews were routed out and deported, much of that work was burned or otherwise destroyed. Jews were madly trying to safeguard their work through dealers in America and elsewhere, though the difficulties this presented -- cost, connecting with a buyer (or simply a willing contact), finding someone who would act as go-between -- were enormous. I will focus on certain “survival networks” such as the American Rescue Committee later on.
The appearance of some of the “jeunes peintres” came as a result of the vacuum created by the persecution of their former contemporaries (and rivals!) in art. They had already arrived on the art scene in the 30’s and, although they were champions of the avant-gardism that Hitler condemned, they were more than willing to moderate their artistic zeal in order to gain visibility and notoriety. They would work towards a more “moderate vangardism.”xi Still, in order to display one’s work, artists were required to sign a humiliating statement declaring that they were truly French and not Jewish. Most found this shameful, but did so anyway. Simone de Beauvoir, who was teaching at a high school at the time, but who would later work for the Resistance movement, said: “I found it repugnant to sign, but no one refused: for most of my colleagues as well as for me, there was no alternative.”xii
Despite the seemingly lively appearance of the Paris art world, conditions were hardly comparable to what had been. Galleries that formerly welcomed new artists from abroad were disappearing quickly. Those, which had become showcases for Surrealist art (as the Galerie Pierre, Jewish owned) were closed, as directors fled to safe countries or were sent to concentration camps in Germany. Some tried to sell their galleries, or tried to create fictitious bills of sale to non-Jewish family members so as not to be “Aryanized” by the new state. Failing that, an interim administrator would be installed until someone sympathetic to the German interests could buy the business. What transpired from the confiscation of many of these galleries was a blatant offering of mediocre, “middle-of-the-road” xiii art. This was to be called the
juste milieu
, and represented a turning away from modernism and towards a more rustic depiction of family life, love of the French soil and wholesome bodies.