Venice Biennale 1948. The Mostra degli Impressionisti at the German Pavilion and its Politics

− Abstract

During the 1948 Venice Biennale, the first edition after the end of World War II, the selections for the national pavilions at the Giardini reflected the sclerosis of pre-war structures and the reconfiguration of relationships among post-war victors, defeated nations, and emerging adversaries. This shifting and unstable scenario was epitomised by the Mostra degli Impressionisti, organised by Biennale Secretary Rodolfo Pallucchini and staged in the German Pavilion.

This decision takes on deeper resonance when viewed through the lens of the “political topography” of the Giardini’s pavilions. In 1948, defeated Germany, then divided into Allied occupation zones, lacked official representation at the Biennale. Instead, a politically charged exhibition of “the Germans” – featuring artists cleansed of Nazi associations – was displayed in the Italian Pavilion. The choice to occupy the German Pavilion with a “French” exhibition rather than hosting this compensatory display was laden with political and symbolic significance.

The tensions, motivations, and consequences of this decision, along with the pavilion’s eventual “restitution” to the Federal Republic of Germany in 1950 against the backdrop of the Cold War, illuminate the Biennale’s evolving post-war role as a platform for soft power. The broader narrative surrounding the organization of these exhibitions – including the dynamics of loans, hesitations from American collectors, contentious negotiations with the Soviet Union, and the lingering shadow of Nazi-looted art – provides a compelling framework for uncovering hidden historical narratives.