ABSTRACT
In social terms, the 19th century saw the development of new networks of journals, museums and concerts, in which artists and discriminating consumers of their works forged a new “aesthetic sphere”. Like “science”, the apparently neutral, objective and autonomous category of art fulfilled valuable functions in the Nazis’ creation and maintenance of international networks. The most consequential arts-related international network in Nazi-dominated Europe was surely the continent’s network of art dealers. Nazi officials were thoroughly familiar with this world. The Venice Biennale was Europe’s greatest art fair and a prominent platform for internationalism in the arts. “Internationalistic” trends, one German art journal commented, “had quite disappeared”. “Germany is in a very bad and difficult situation internationally”, Adolf Hitler told Joseph Goebbels in October 1933. More broadly, highlighting German respect for Greek antiquity reminded foreign guests of Germany’s cultural sophistication, so as to counter the international outcry against the Nazis’ assault on so much of contemporary German cultural life.
