German Art of the 19th Century through the Lens of The Greek Literary Magazine Kleiō (Clio): Academic Formalism Versus Modernism

Abstract

We examine the work of 19th-century German painters as presented in the Greek-language magazine Kleiō published in Germany in the late 19th century. Through an extensive catalogue of paintings, the article highlights the themes that preoccupied German painters during this period. It places particular emphasis on their approach, aesthetic preferences, the decisive role played by the Academies of Fine Arts, and their attitudes towards the modern movements developing in France during the 19th century. It explores the reasons for which Kleiō magazine promoted academic German painting to its Greek readership. It reports the particularly close relations between Greece and Germany during this period and the fact that many Greek painters completed their studies at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts. Since for most of the 19th century, Germany was deeply influenced by the achievements of ancient Greek art, many German painters opposed modernism, instead upholding what they perceived to be the values and ideals of classical antiquity integrating them into German art