The Maltz Museum is thrilled to announce the opening of DEGENERATE! Hitler’s War on Modern Art. The collection features art labeled as ‘degenerate’ by the Nazi regime and used as propaganda to sway public opinion. The exhibition will be on view at the Maltz Museum from October 30, 2024 to April 20, 2025.

DEGENERATE! showcases art from private and public collections, exploring movements, events, and outcomes of being branded “degenerate” and the role it played in public indoctrination to Nazi ideology. Part history, part art show, the exhibition displays works by artists that the Nazis blamed for the moral decline of German culture and society.

In the early 20th century, radical new approaches to art flourished, but as Hitler came to power, that soon changed. Under the control of the Nazi regime, works of art across Europe were confiscated in the thousands. Some were destroyed. Some were sold to build the Nazi war machine. Others were used as propaganda, promoting the idea that certain perspectives and people were “degenerate” and “unworthy of life.”