Following the formation of the Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR) under the governance of the Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands (SED), art was widely censored. This lasted throughout the existence of the DDR from 1949 to 1990.
In the art community, all public venues were subject to censorship. Posters and advertisements for any event, as well as all art itself, were to be submitted to government officials for review and approval. The content of the art was judged on its adherence to the communist ideologies of the SED. Criticism of the communist party and its current regimes was not tolerated by the officials and was often censored. Also, any art that portrayed a sympathetic view of capitalism was not allowed. Other topics that were subject to censorship were homosexuality, pornography, violence, and alcoholism.
In addition to reviewing content, the DDR censored forms that were not viewed as proper art. This ranged from free verse poetry to avant-garde and abstract art. Artists could be sent warnings for art not fitting into these standards, and subsequent penalties included public bannings, arrest, and deportation. During the declining years of the GDR, from the early 1980s to 1990, this censorship lessened as the SED began to lose control over the East German population.
This series contains posters relating to art exhibits, individual artists, art galleries, and museums from the Deutsche Demokratische Republik. The series contains 1820 posters of various sizes. The posters range in size from 68 x 97 cm to 29 x 40 cm. The average poster size is 57 x 81 cm.
Artists depicted in portraits or photographs in this series include Thomas Münster, Johannes Becher, Bruno Bernitz, Joseph Beuys, Leonhard Frank, Wolfgang Frankenstein, Caspar Friedrich, Paul Holz, Otta Pankok, Karl Schinkel, and Heinrich Zille. Other notable figures depicted in portraits are Adolf Hitler, Albert Einstein, and Marilyn Monroe. Most of the posters in the series are for art exhibitions held in East Germany at galleries and museums. They may contain the artists, date, venue information and visual images of the art. Also in this series are art posters from the DDR collection of "Best Posters of the Year" for particular years.
In addition to art exhibits, the series features collections of posters by four individual artists encompassing a range of subjects: Bolker Phuller, Manfred Batzman, Wolfgang Janish, and Hubert Riedel. Many of these posters are signed by the artist. In all other posters, the designing artist and the print year are documented unless neither are available.
The range of artistic styles depicted in the series is broad, with examples of social realism, abstract art, surrealism, folk art, and neo-expressionism.
The arrangement is by subject and a numbering system.
Collection is open to research.
There may be restrictions on use.
Special Collections and Archives holds many other posters on the history of East Germany.
East German poster collection art exhibits series, Collection #0207, Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University.
Purchased from Thomas Hill in 2009.
Processed by Matthew Salyers in 2011. EAD markup completed by Matthew Salyers in 2011.
Processing supported by a grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources.
Sample images are also available. Please contact speccoll@gmu.edu for more information.