Arcadia and Metropolis

This publication presents a selection of important paintings from the Nationalgalerie Berlin, one of Germany's major collections of twentieth-century art. Major Expressionist and Neue Sachlichkeit artists represented here include Max Beckmann, Otto Dix, George Grosz, Erich Heckel, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Emil Nolde, Max Pechstein, and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff. Arranged thematically, and with in-depth explanatory texts, the paintings trace the evolution of German art as it moved from the mountains to the city, from optimism to bitter disillusionment. Essays by key scholars and curators examine these artists' varied responses to their country's abrupt encounter with industrialization and urbanization.