Alfred Rethel's Counterrevolutionary Death Dance
1991; College Art Association; Volume: 73; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/00043079.1991.10786780
ISSN1559-6478
Autores Tópico(s)German Literature and Culture Studies
ResumoRethel's decisive contribution to the visual reconstruction of the 1848 revolutions is ambivalently treated by art historians. His Auch ein Todtentanz series is a counterrevolutionary tract, yet it is also one of the most brilliant artistic achievements of the period. The need of some scholars to match aesthetic accomplishment with a “politically correct” posture has often resulted in tortured discussions of Rethel's politics. Here the attempt is made to position Rethel's visual practice in relation to the politics current in mid-nineteenth-century Prussia. Finally, the essay indicates that what distinguishes Rethel's achievement depended in part on his ability to subvert the symbolic imagery of the Left.
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