Masters Theses

Date of Award

8-2008

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Major

German

Major Professor

David Lee

Committee Members

Gilya G. Schmidt, Daniel H. Magilow

Abstract

This thesis asks to what degree Max Liebermann (1847-1935) may be looked on as a Jewish artist. It examines the relationship as it is seen in his Jewish family background, in traditions rooted in Sittlichkeit and Bildung, such as diligence, and it also finds Jewish themes in a limited number of his art works. The first chapter examines Liebermann’s family history and his career as a painter influenced by Dutch and French artists. The second chapter looks at the ways critics have tried to assess this relationship. The opinions of art historian critics from Liebermann’s own time, such as Karl Scheffler and Julius Meier-Graefe, , are examined, as are those of contemporary critics such as Katrin Boskamp or Matthias Eberle. Boskamp sees connection between depictions of rural work and Jewish occupational restructuring, whereas Matthias Eberle detects an inclination on Liebermann’s part to Lassallean socialism. Both of these views are rejected in favor of a J. A. Clarke’s view of Liebermann as a cosmopolitan artist whose openness to the world was rooted in family and ethnic tradition. Liebermann is depicted in this thesis as an artist who placed himself firmly among the ranks of cultivated, assimilated western Jews, who sympathized with artists of the Zionist movement without particularly wishing to join them. Descriptions of particular artworks highlight Liebermann’s Jewish side. Self-Portrait with Kitchen Still-Life describes Liebermann’s positive attitude towards traditional Jewish customs. The Jewish Quarter in Amsterdam is a collection of etchings and paintings that typify the milieu, the atmosphere, and the symbiosis between Jewish and Dutch people. The Twelve-Year-Old Jesus in the Temple is a painting which may points to Liebermann’s inclination to a modern reform Judaism, and Den Müttern der Zwölftausend accentuates his pride of being Jew.

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