Otto Karl Werckmeister's Books

Icons of the Left

Benjamin and Eisenstein, Picasso and Kafka After the Fall of Communism

By: Otto Karl Werckmeister

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Icons of the Left

Benjamin and Eisenstein, Picasso and Kafka After the Fall of Communism

By: Otto Karl Werckmeister

In this book the author offers a critique of Marxist culture in capitalist society. Focusing on some of the most celebrated instances of traditional "Western Marxism," the author shows how such "icons of the Left" have been progressively detached from their political roots in communist activism to the safe distance of utopian or revolutionary speculations.--Publisher's description.

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Page Count

200

Publisher

University of Chicago Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0226893561

ISBN 13

9780226893563

The Making of Paul Klee's Career, 1914-1920

By: Otto Karl Werckmeister

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The Making of Paul Klee's Career, 1914-1920

By: Otto Karl Werckmeister

Paul Klee—one of the preeminent artists of the twentieth century—was associated with all of the major movements of the first half of the century: expressionism, cubism, surrealism, and abstraction. In this economic and political history, O. K. Werckmeister traces Klee's career as a professional artist, concentrating on the years 1914-20 in which Klee rose from obscurity to recognition in the visual culture of the incipient Weimar Republic. Werckmeister reveals the degree to which Klee, who has been traditionally portrayed as aloof from politics and the vicissitudes of the art market, was subject to and interacted with material conditions. Drawing on rich documentary evidence—records of Klee's sales, reviews of his exhibitions, the artist's published writings about his art, unpublished correspondence, as well as contemporary criticism—Werckmeister follows Klee's transformation from an idiosyncratic abstract individualist to a metaphysical storyteller to mystical sage. Werckmeister argues that this latter image was promoted by a number of influential art critics and dealers acting in cooperation with the artist himself. This posture prompted Klee's success first in the war-weary modernist art world of 1916-18 and then in the pseudo-revolutionary art world of 1919-20. This work is a critical challenge to the myth of Klee's art and to the hagiography of his artistic personality. Werckmeister's historical account is sure to be a controversial yet significant contribution to Klee studies—one that will change the nature of Klee scholarship for some time to come.

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Page Count

364

Publisher

University of Chicago Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0226893588

ISBN 13

9780226893587

Citadel Culture

By: Otto Karl Werckmeister

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Citadel Culture

By: Otto Karl Werckmeister

Citadel" evokes a rich mixture of associations—from images of urban centers of commerce and culture to war and the need to defend what is fortified within. Preserving its layered meanings, O. K. Werckmeister plucks the word from its usual moorings and employs it as a compelling metaphor in a brilliant retrospective of contemporary Western culture.

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