Otto Neumann (1895-1975) survived conscription into the German army during World War I, persecution by the Nazis, and the suicide of his only child, and while none of those cataclysmic events appear directly in his many drawings, paintings, and prints, trauma and suffering were his lifelong subjects. Neumann’s most productive period was during the 1920s and 30s, and that work forms the basis of two illuminating exhibitions at Rare Nest Gallery in Avondale and the State Street Gallery at Robert Morris University downtown.
In 1929, he married Hilde Rothschild; their only child, Marianne, was born later that same year. His marriage to the daughter of a prominent Jewish family allowed him the freedom to practice his art with little worry about making a living, but it soon made him a pariah after the rise of National Socialism. The Rothschilds’ prominent contacts were able to save Neumann’s young family from the concentration camps, but Neumann’s art was labeled “degenerate” both because of his refusal to divorce Hilde and because his pictures did not portray the wholesome Aryan fantasy promoted by the Nazis.
“Otto Neumann: Modern Degenerate.” Through 3/15: Mon-Thu 10 AM-6 PM, State Street Gallery at Robert Morris University, 401 S. State, 312-935-4086, robertmorris.edu, free.
