Chapter 11
FranzWilhelm Seiwert’sCritical Empathy
An art form that relatesto aparticular social class does not exist,and if it did, it would be
entirelyirrelevant to life.We ask thosewhowantto create proletarian art: What is proletar-
ian art?Isitanart created by the proletarians themselves? Or an art onlyinthe serviceof
the proletariat?Oranart intended to arouse proletarian (revolutionary) instincts?There ex-
ists no art created by proletarians becauseaproletarian whocreatesart no longerremains a
proletarian but becomes an artist.Theo vanDoesburg, Hans Arp, andKurt Schwitters,“Manifest Proletkunst”The spirited defensein1923ofautonomous artbyTheo van Doesburg(1883–
1931), Hans Arp (1886–1966), andKurt Schwitters (1887–1948) and their denun-
ciationof“proletarian”as the symptom of all thatwas wrongwith politically en-
gagedart originated in the intense conflicts and deep divides that characterized
the culture and society of theWeimarRepublic.¹Accordingtovan Doesburg, the
founderofthe De Stijl movement, aworker transcended his class origins when
he became an artist.But could an artist alsodecidetostand with the working
class?FamousWeimar artists, from Otto Dix (1891–1969), GeorgeGrosz(1893–
1959), and Käthe Kollwitz (1867–1945) to lesser-known ones such as Otto
Nagel (1894–1967),Curt Querner (1904–1976), Oskar Nerlinger (1893–1969),
and Alice Lex-Nerlinger (1893–1975), would have answeredwith an enthusiastic
“yes,”includingthose who, like Nagel and Querner,did not come from working-
class backgrounds.Working in realist,expressionist,constructivist,and New Ob-
jectivist styles,all of them used artistic techniqueto critique the structuresand
conditions of modernclass society.
As will be argued on the pages thatfollow,Franz Wilhelm Seiwert (1894–
l933)and John Heartfield (1891–1968) were most consistent in forging proletar-
ian identifications through modernisttechniques, Seiwert throughwhat he
called figurative constructivism and Heartfield through the means of photomont-
age. Evenmore importantfor our purposes, these artists significantlyexpanded
the emotional registers of modernism, with Seiwert using critical empathyto
modelahabitus of class solidarity and Heartfield by drawing on what his brother
called productive rage to promotethe cause of class struggle. The fact that both
artistsrelied on performances of the classed body–groups of workers united in
Theo van Doesburg,Hans Arp, andKurt Schwitters,“Manifest Proletkunst,”Merz2.1(April
1923): 24.