Carl Einstein (1885 – 1940), born Karl Einstein, was an
influential German Jewish writer, art historian, anarchist and critic. He was a
nephew to the physicist Albert Einstein.
Regarded as one of the first critics to appreciate the
development of Cubism, as well as for his work on African art and influence on
the European avant-garde, Einstein was a friend and colleague of such figures
as George Grosz, Georges Braque, Pablo Picasso and Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler. His
work combined many strands of both political and aesthetic discourse into his
writings, addressing both the developing aesthetic of modern art and the
political situation in Europe.
Einstein's involvement in social and political life was
characterized by communist sympathies and anarchist views. A target of the
German right wing during the interwar Weimar period, Einstein left Germany for
France in 1928, a half-decade ahead of the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi
Party, later taking part in the Spanish Civil War on the side of the
anti-Francisco Franco anarcho-syndicalists during the 1930s.
Trapped in southern France following Nazi Germany's defeat
of the French Third Republic, Einstein took his own life by jumping from a
bridge on 5 July 1940.
No comments:
Post a Comment