German museums have kept their excellent modern collections in cellars since the Aggrandizer of the Reich defined modern art as "degenerate." Last week they attempted to sell some choice examples of degeneracy on the international market. Up at auction in the big ballroom of the Hotel National in Lucerne, Switzerland, after having been displayed appetizingly for six weeks there and in Zurich, were 125 works by van Gogh, Gauguin, Picasso, Braque, Matisse, Modigliani, Lehmbruck, Barlach, Chagall, Hofer, Klee, Grosz and others.
This was not all or even mostly a brave gesture of contempt for...
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