Table of Contents

Introduction: Why Heisig Matters
From the Nazi Past to the Cold War Present
Art for an Educated Nation
Against the Wall: Murals, Modern Art, and Controversy
The Contentious Emergence of the "Leipzig School"
Portraying Workers and Revolutionaries
Conclusion: The Quintessential German Artist
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Reviews

It has taken until the publication of April Eisman's ?ne book to grant East German art generally, and Bernhard Heisig speci?cally, the attention he deserves in English-language scholarship as one of the major German artists of the twentieth century. For this Eisman deserves considerable praise.
*MONATSHEFTE*

[F]ascinating . . . . [C]aptures the complexity of th[e] era and stands to profoundly affect art historical understandings of this controversial period of artmaking. . . . Through the rigor of her social historical methods, Eisman reveals 'the complexity and artistry that was possible in East Germany' (136) and disproves the idea that communist ideology and modern art cannot coexist.
*SLAVIC REVIEW*

The book does the great service of making very detailed information on visual art in 'East Germany' . . . . accessible to an English-speaking public. . . . The chapters on Heisig's development . . . are detailed and reliably reconstructed, and show an artist who not only had to endure the conflicts in the political and cultural system of the GDR but also exerted influence on them.
*KUNSTCHRONIK*

[F]ascinating . . . . Eisman does an excellent job of showing us how Heisig's work illustrated the possibilities for this synthesis [of creating modern art and contributing to the project of building socialism] in what has been a much understudied field -- East German art history.
*GERMAN STUDIES REVIEW*

[C]an [be] read as an argument for the importance of biographical approaches in the study of socialist art, even in the context of collectivist practices. . . . [W]ill be welcomed by anyone interested in twentieth-century German art . . . and, more specifically, committed to moving beyond conventional accounts of modernism and its ideological others.
*MODERNISM/MODERNITY*

The first monograph in English devoted to Heisig, this book presents an overview of [his] life and work and makes a strong case for reconsidering his oeuvre -- and East German visual art more broadly -- for its important contributions to art history. . . . Accessible and well argued, the book is enhanced by 60 illustrations, many of them color plates, that reproduce the work of Heisig and his contemporaries, providing a visual lexicon of East German art. . . . Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals; general readers.
*CHOICE*

Offers an interesting glimpse into the East German art world and into debates about art and society . . . . Beautifully illustrated with the works of Heisig and other GDR artists, Eisman's book is based on rich archival material, close visual analysis, and interviews with the late artist [Heisig] himself. . . . [This] book deserves to be read not only by people who are interested in East German art but also by anybody interested in German history in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
*CENTRAL EUROPEAN HISTORY*