Abstraction as the “Language of Freedom”
Art around 1950

The start of the Cold War ended the stylistic diversity of early post-war Germany. The political antagonism between the Western powers and the Eastern bloc was reflected in art. Under pressure from the Soviet Union, socialist realism became the dominant style in East Germany and the other Eastern bloc countries. Meanwhile, abstraction acquired the upper hand in Western Europe and the United States.

Abstraction was seen in West Germany as the “language of freedom”, subject to no rules. In East Germany it was decried as “bourgeois formalism”. Non-representational painting was driven by colour, shape and the artistic act, inspiring ever-new forms of expression. Fred Thieler and Hann Trier experimented with a wide range of techniques such as collage and drip painting. In abstract photography too, the creative quest focused on structures and forms.