Alfons Schneider, Silvesternacht 1941

Description

‘Silvesternacht 1941’ (‘New Year’s Eve 1941’)
Biography: Alfons Schneider

Monumental painting, displayed at the GDK 1942 room 13.
Size 125 x 149 cm.

‘Silvesternacht 1941’ by Schneider was also displayed at the exhibition ‘Nazi Design’, Design Museum Den Bosch, The Netherlands, 8 September 2019 – 1 March 2020.
This world-wide highly publicized exhibition attracted over 130.000 visitors in six months. The exhibition was covered on the front page of the New York Times and Bild, and i.a. in the Guardian, Le Monde, Le Figaro, Paris Match, Spiegel, Welt, Tagesspiegel, El Pais and all Dutch newspapers. On television the exposition was covered i.a. by the ARD, ZDF, DW News, Aljazeera, AFP News Agency, SBS World News, and all mayor television chanels in The Netherlands. Because of the enormous popularity of the exhibition, the museum extended opening hours, opened its doors also on Mondays, and finally it extended the exhibition by 6 weeks.

‘Silvesternacht 1941’ by Schneider, displayed at the exhibition ‘Nazi Design’, Design Museum Den Bosch, The Netherlands. Published by AFP France/ The Times of Israel, 20 September 2020.

‘Silvesternacht 1941’ by Schneider, shown at 3 September 2019 on Dutch television, NOS News, prime time.

‘Silvesternacht 1941’: Turning Point of World War II
The turning Backpoint of World War II was ‘the Battle of Moscow’ and the Soviet counter-offensive launched in December 1941. The Battle of Moscow was a military campaign that consisted of two periods of strategically significant fighting on a 600 km sector of the Eastern Front during World War II. It took place between October 1941 and January 1942.
Depicted are German soldiers in snow camouflage uniforms at New Year’s Eve 1941 in the Russian trenches: heavy shell explosions and artillery fire turn the sky red.
With temperatures of -45 Celsius (-49 Fahrenheit), the winter of 1941/42 is known as one of the coldest European/Russian winters of the 20th Century.

Alfons Schneider, ‘Silvesternacht 1941’ displayed at the Grosse Deutsche Kunstausstellung 1942 (right).
In the middel (background): ‘Im Atlantik’ by Claus Bergen, bought by Robert Ley for 25.000 RM and in the possession of the Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin (size 320 x 180 cm).

Alfons Schneider, ‘Sylvesternacht 1941’, depicted in ‘Art in the Third Reich’ by Jelle Bouwhuis and Almar Seinen, 2023/24.

German War Art in the Pentagon
‘Very good, outstanding and brilliant in conception…’

House of Representatives, Committee on Armed Services, Investigation Subcommittee, Washington, D.C. , September 23, 1981
At September 23, 1981, the House of Representatives discussed the transfer to Germany of 6.337 pieces of war art that were seized from the German Government by the United States Army in March 1947. Below some remarkable quotes from the discussion.
George William Whitehurst (Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, journalist, professor) about the 6.337 pieces of German war art:
‘They are similar to the military works of art hanging on our own committee and subcommittee rooms. Part of the German collection is on display in the Pentagon…. This is war art, showing the life of German military personnel under the best and the worst conditions, as indeed soldiers, sailors, and airmen of all nations experienced it… ‘Asked by the Chairman about the value of the art: ‘Some of it is very, very good. The large canvas in my office is an outstanding work of art..’.

Marylou Gjernes, Army Art Curator, U.S. Army Center of Military History, Department of the Army:
‘..The Air Force similarly favors retention of German war art integral to its museum operations at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, and a small exhibit of paintings that they have in the Pentagon.’…. ‘Some of the paintings and drawings are brilliant in conception and execution. They show by their artistry, color and mood, the spirit of combat, and the desolation, destruction and tragedy of war. There are illustrations of the despair and boredom of the troops…They are a testament to the sensitivity of the artist regardless of nationality. The collection ..is utilized in ongoing exhibition programs and displays to provide a unique view of World War II that supplements and supports the written history of the conflict..’

Extreme scarce work of art
Art works considered as overt propaganda were massively destroyed
As described below, in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement of August 1945, the Allied Control Council laws and military government regulations, all collections of works of art related or dedicated to the perpetuation of German militarism or Nazism, were destroyed. Thousands of paintings were considered of ‘no value’ and burned. Around 8,722 artworks were shipped to military deposits in the U.S. In 1986 the largest part was returned to Germany, with the exception of 200 paintings which were considered as overt propaganda: depictions of German Soldiers, war sceneries, swastika’s and portraits of Nazi leaders.

– condition	: II
– size	: Excluding frame: 140 x 120 cm
– signed	: left, under
– type	: oil on canvas. No frame.

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