Torn Modernism illuminates an important moment in the history of the Kunstmuseum Basel's collection. In 1937 the Nazi cultural policy denounced thousands of works as "degenerate" and forcibly removed from German museums. The Third Reich's Ministry of Propaganda correctly assumed that a portion of such works would find buyers abroad, in this way certain artworks deemed "internationally exploitable" reached the art market via various channels. Georg Schmidt (1896-1966), the museum's director at the time, managed in 1939 to acquire the Painting Animal Destinies by Franz Marc (1880-1916) and twenty avant-garde masterpieces all at once. In the catalogue, renowned experts trace the events based on the seizures in German museums and explain the historical contexts. The actors of the institutions and the art market are presented, and the Nazi regime's act of cultural violence is revealed, which resulted in an artificial fragmentation of Modernism into art that was "exploitable" on the one hand, and art that had been destroyed or forgotten on the other. Contributions on the auction of the Galerie Fischer in Lucerne, on Georg Schmidt's approach, and on the classification of the acquisitions in the context of Basel's collection history bring specific Swiss aspects into focus.

In 1937, thousands of works by the Brucke artists were confiscated from German museums by the National Socialist authorities, and numerous icons of Expressionism were shown in the traveling exhibition "Degenerate Art". The volume takes a critical look at the fates and the artistic praxis of the former "Brucke" members in the years after 1933. On the basis of numerous sources which have hitherto not been analyzed, today's popular image of Expressionism, its vilification as "degenerate" and the creation of the legend after the end of the Second World War are examined: how much scope for action was there and how should we evaluate the narratives of "inner emigration" and the "zero hour" today? Based on the extensive stocks of the Brucke-Museum, the publication discusses in detail the everyday reality of the artists under the National Socialists. The measures carried out against the former "Brucke" Based on the extensive stocks of the Brucke-Museum, the publication discusses in detail the everyday reality of the artists under the National Socialists. The measures carried out against the former "Brucke" members as a result of Nazi art policy are explained, together with the direct effects on their creative work and the self-image of the painters within the context of the times.