HEINRICH ESSER, "Derharri" (1895-1985)
Lost in the Forgotten Generation

"Hitler knew why the artists - all of them - had to be silenced by burning their 'degenerate art' on the stake. The reason was that genuine art brings about the strengthening of character and mind and a critical position to everything half-hearted, because it is an appeal to the utmost humaneness." Alfred Kerr, 1947, after his return from exile

The so-called Forgotten Generation was comprised of young German artists, who had completed their art studies after the First World War and who were already celebrating the initial success of their artistic careers. Most of them were born between 1890 and 1905. Consequently they are not regarded as Expressionists but as their successors, called Expressive Realists. The affiliation to the Forgotten Generation is significally determined by the artists' productive period. As a result of the Nazi Regime's actions they were denied the opportunity to develop their art and present their works - in a time that was supposed to be their heyday. Instead they became victims of the denunciation of 'degenerate art'. They were banned from exhibiting and even from painting. Henceforth they were forced to either continue their work in secrecy - or to give up completely.

At first the ban affected already well-known artists belonging to the Modern Arts Movement, especially the creators of Expressionism - for instance the artist communities "Die Brücke" and "Der Blaue Reiter". But as time proceeded, the ban even reached their students and other young artists. Their works were confiscated on the grounds of being 'degenerate' and mostly destroyed. Some, however, managed to salvage their art from the Nazi Regime.

After 1945 the majority of these artists had to start all over again. Of the art critics, publicists, art dealers and curators of their time, only few had survived. Moreover, the experience and suffering of wartime as well as new trends in international art made it difficult to return to former traditions and forms of expression. And with the division of Germany into two countries came the crowning blow. German art started to evolve in two very different directions. New influences in the west and restrictions in the east quickly let the artists, who had advanced Expressionism, fall into oblivion.