Christian Schad and the Neue Sachlichkeit

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Christian Schad (1894-1982) was a leading figure of the Neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity) movement of the 1920s. His sharp-focused, often mysteriously erotic portraits epitomize the decadent glamour of the Weimar era. Schad began his artistic life in Zurich as a member of the Dada movement. The most fruitful results of this period of experimentation were the small abstract photograms he made in 1919, the Schadographs. In the 1920s, Schad returned to Germany and began to create his celebrated portraits. These works are characterized by a disturbing, even mesmerizing intensity. The faces of the men and women he portrayed reflect a moment when decadence and melancholy coincided, and Schad succeeded brilliantly in capturing this fugitive, transitional state. Even when the artist's paintings are apparently at their most objective, they engage in a complex theater of illusion. Christian Schad and the Neue Sachlichkeit traces the career of this fascinating and under-appreciated artist, while placing him in the context of other leading artists of the Neue Sachlichkeit movement. It is the most extensive English-language publication available on the artist and accompanies a major exhibition at Neue Galerie New York. Book jacket.