Thesis Introduction

Hey everyone, this is the introduction to my thesis. Any feedback would be appreciated.

Where Have All of the Angels Gone, Have They Turned into Puppets?
Existentialism and Nihilism in the Works of Paul Klee and Rainer Maria Rilke

Introduction

World War I was a major turning point in history which had a direct causation on art,

literature, and philosophy. Art fragmented into various “isms”, such as expressionism, cubism,

futurism, and suprematism, often displacing artists and causing them to change from movement

to movement. In a sense the fragmentation of art paralleled the vast devastation of war on so

many fronts, including loss of homes and loss of life; individuals sought to understand often the

pointlessness of it all. Thus the war that was termed “the Great War” was supposed to end

quickly with little causality. Ultimately “the Great War” turned into a disaster. New

developments, such as trench warfare expedited death. Soldiers were often buried and

suffocated under dead soldiers in the trenches. The use of gas suffocated many fighting in the

trenches and fallout from grenades killed many as well. World War II was an additional turning

point in history. Millions of innocent people were slaughtered in the name of a “pure race”,

leaving a devastated Europe despairing over the lack of humanity of it all.

During the backdrop of the war the artists suffered as well. “In the summer of 1937, Klee’s

prominence as an artist condemned by the National Socialist government was confirmed for all

to see.”[1] Whereas modernist art was once accepted and hailed as great art during the Weimar

Republic, it was ridiculed and put on public display by the National Socialist government. This

ultimately led to a political confrontation concluding with the confiscation of modern works in all

public collections in Germany.[2] A Degenerate Art Exhibit was set up across from an exhibit

displaying ‘good’ examples of art. Thus new standards were established for art, which excluded

modern art. Whereas modern art was upheld as ‘high art’ in the Weimar Republic, this all

changed under the rule of the National Socialist government. Therefore what happened to the

artists whose works were confiscated? Many were forced to flee, losing their jobs and in many

circumstances their art as well.

When historical experiences are traumatic (such as the conditions of World War I and World

War II) a person seeks to lose oneself; a former identity is lost forever and a new cultural

identity is created.[3] Often one cannot see beyond the past or create a new historical identity.

This leads to the philosophical idea of existentialism for when one remains in touch with one’s

self and relies only on their organic senses they rely solely on themselves.[4] Thus in a sense

both the past and the future become irrelevant. They seek to live only in the present moment.

However often in extreme cases this can lead to the idea of nihilism. I hope to demonstrate that

neither Paul Klee nor Rainer Maria Rilke could accomplish a particular transformation dear to

both of them – namely, the move from what, in these philosophical terms, could be described as

a transition from existentialism to nihilism. These issues articulated through these artists,

crystallize around the figures of “the angel” and “the puppet.” This illustration can be seen in

Paul Klee’s painting Angelus Novus (1932) [Fig. 1] and in Rainer Maria Rilke’s Duino Elegies

(1923) reflecting ideas of existentialism. Often existentialism practiced to the extreme can turn

into a type of nihilism as can be seen in Klee’s Death and Fire (1940) [Fig. 2]. Thus when one

exists in a state of existentialism or nihilism do they further abandon all hope and then

ultimately the human race? In addition, the Nietzchean idea of “…a form of moral renewal in

which the forces of destruction and creation were inseparably linked to one another” can be seen

in the work of the aforementioned.[5]

Footnotes

[1] Roskill, Mark. Klee, Kandinsky, and the Thought of Their Time: A Critical Perspective. (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1992), 55.

[2] Ankersmit, F.R. “The Sublime Dissociation of the Past: or How to Be(Come) What One Is No Longer.” History and Theory. (October, 2001), 302.

[3] Nietzsche, Friedrich. Trans. R.J. Hollingdale. A Nietzsche Reader. (London: Penguin Books Ltd, 1977), 203.

[4] Werckmeister, O.K. “From Revolution to Exile.” Paul Klee: His Life and Works. Ed. Carolyn Lanchner. (New York: Hatje Cantz Publishers, 1987), 44.

[5] Ibid, 45.