Art in Germany, from the two sides of the culture, has remained biased against Realism based on the following three arguments:
a. On the Eastern German side, The GDR (German Democratic Republic) realism was banished after the people rejected the dogmatic aesthetics of the “Socialist Realism” that was very popular in the Communist countries during the Cold War. That type of "art" was used by the Soviets as a tool to widen the ideologies of Communism.
b. On the Western German side, the Federal Republic of Germany banished their realist art, because of the historical preference of the Nazis for their own version of Arian “Realism”, which was actually a depiction of their ideals for the Master Race. Artists in Germany were expected to show art that only portrayed the beauty of the Arian Race during the Third Reich.
c. Another element of disintegration of "Realist" art in Germany is their history previous to the First WW, when the Germans were trapped in the ideologies of eugenic racism that led them to initiate the traffic and commercialization of African human skulls, like in South Western Africa (Tanzania). In those days, the Germans considered the skulls of Africans a tourist attraction.
As a consequence of these influences, since German Reunification, the "free" new culture has been kept in a regressive condition, where many artists are encouraged to express their rejection of the past by doing mainly abstract art. If they do realist art and depict white people, their art is quickly resembled as evocative of the past tendencies. If they depict the German misery, the art becomes stereotipical for a formula that has been used for too long and is no creative. If they depict people of color, their art is quickly denounced as a form of racism.
The culture appears to encourage artists to produce abstract and conceptual art only. This form of evasion from the art of Realism could explain an avoidance from the culture's historical past, leaving the art of (positive) Realism absent from the contemporary art scene, where any realist depiction of the human figure can easily be identified with the ideologies that permeated both sides of Germany before, during and after the German Wars.
Perhaps this social phenomenon only points to the development of the technology only as the attribute of intelligence assigned to Germany after the devastation of its still remaining humane sides. However, it is worrying to think that technology can advance unto unlimited developments, but the sensibility of the humanity would have to remain stuck. Admitted, the computers can produce incredible images, with little intervention of the human hand. But, it is the humble creation of the human hand what has allowed humanity to progress there, where the computer can't reach: In the realm where the emotions and feelings expressed through the humble work of the human hand may render the human being caring, compassionate and loving, after having realized the wonderful miracle of creativity. This new humanity cannot be reached by escaping the contemplation of humanity. The sense of self realization through the development of the work of art in the contemplation of the human nature can only come as a mirror to the perceptions of the soul that looks into its humanity and renders it "beautiful" after coming to peace with what has been seen. That is the moment when the artist contemplates the artwork and sees that it is very good.
