Primitivism in the Works of Carl Einstein,Carl Sternheim and Gottfried Benn

The notable exception is R. Grimm, "Zur-Benn Literatur", in Strukturen. Essays zur deutschen Literatur (Gottingen, 1963), 273-352. Grimm draws attention to close links between Einstein's theories and Benn's, but does not mention Sternherm. F. W. Wodke, Gottfried Benn (Stuttgart, 1962), 20-29, offers some useful biographical material on these literary relationships, as does S. Penkert, Carl Einstein. Beitrage zu einer Monographie (Gottingen, 1969).

See Penkert, Carl Einstein, 75-87.

"The Rise of Primitivism and its Relevance to the Poetry of Expressionism and Dada", in The Discontinuous Tradition. Studies in German Literature in honour of E. L. Stabl, ed. by P. F. Ganz (Oxford, 1971), 182-203. Middleton is wrong, however, when he claims that "Einstein's book on negro sculpture was written largely in Brussels", p. 193.

Gauguin's art and life clearly fascinated Sternheim. He attempted to buy the manuscript of Gauguin's Avant et après in 1914 and was given it on loan in 1916. In 1916 Sternheim acquired a Gauguin painting ("Madchen in gelbem Kittel vor Sommerlandschaft"). It was not until 1924 with the publication of Gauguin und van Gogh that Sternheim began to distance himself from what he then saw as Gauguin's escapism in favour of what he saw as Van Gogh's social commitment. For a discussion of this see my article "Carl Sternheim's Image of Van Gogh", Modern Language Review, lxxii (1977), 112-24.

See G. Quenzer , "Absolute Prosa. Carl Einsteins 'Bebuquin oder die Dilettanten des Wunders"', Der Deutschunterricht, XVII (1965), no. 5, 53-65; and R. Hinton Thomas , "Carl Einstein and Expressionism", in Essays en German Language, Culture and Society, ed. by S. Prawer et al. (London, 1969), 136-48. Hinton Thomas does not mention Negerplastik.

Carl Einstein. Werke, 1 (1908-18), ed. by Rolf-Peter Baake (Berlin, 1980), and Werke, ii (1919-28), ed. by Marion Schmid (Berlin, 1981). Unless otherwise stated, all subsequent references are to this edition and are given after quotations Another edition, entitled "Gesammelte Werke in Einzelausgaben" , edited by Sibylle Penkert and published by Rowohlt, was planned, but in the event only one volume, Die Fabrikation der Fiktionen (1973), appeared.

See Einstein, Werke, 1, 351-3. This detail has escaped the attention of the art critics who frequently cite Einstein's pioneering work but seldom examine it in detail. An exception is Jean Laude, The Arts of Black Africa, trans. by J. Decock (Berkeley, 1971; originally published in 1966) 18, 175, 202-4.

Carl Einstein , "Negermythen", in Marsyas, 1 (1917), 45-60.

For a discussion of this issue, see Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, "Negerkunst und Kubismus", Merkur, xiii (1959), 722-30. Kahnweiler, whose gallery in Paris was a centre of cubist art, was a close friend of Einstern's, a friendship which dated from their childhood in Karlsruhe. Kahnweiler's essay echoes a number of Einstein's findings.

Carl Einstein , Die Kunst des 20. Jahrhunderts (Propylaen Kunstgeschichte, xvi), 3rd edn (Berlin, 1931 ), 64 and 69. The first edition appeared in 1926.

These pieces were published in Die Aktion in 1914 and reprinted in Einstein's volume Anmerkungen (1916). R. Grimm, in Strukturen (Gottingen, 1963), 338, notes that Benn's copy of Anmerkungen was much underlined.

Die Kunst des 20. Jahrhunderts, 161.

In view of the discussion which follows, it seems a surprising omission that Heidemarie Oehm in her otherwise excellent study, Die Kunsttheorie Carl Einsteins (Munich, 1976), does not explore the impact of Worringer's ideas on Einstein.

W. Worringer , Abstraktion und Einfuhlung, 2nd edn (Munich, 1908), 16.

Nietzsche , Werke in drei Banden, ed. by K. Schlechta (Munich, 1966), 1, 13.

Carl Sternheim , Gesamtwerk, ed. by W. Emrich and M. Linke (10 vols, Neuwied, 1963-76 ) (= GW), iv, 153. Subsequent references to Sternheim's work are to this edition and are given after quotations.

See S. Penkert, Carl Einstein. Beitrage zu einer Monographie (Gottingen, 1969), 80 (footnote).

Gottfried Benn , Ausgewablte Bnefe, ed. by M. Rychner (Wiesbaden, 1957), 173.

Gottfried Benn , Gesammelte Werke in ner Banden, ed. by D. Wellershoff (Wiesbaden , 1959-61), 11, 398. All subsequent quotations from Benn are from this edition and are given in the text.

Notably, R. Grimm , Gottfried Benn. Die farbliche Chiffre in der Dichtung, 2nd edn (Nuremberg, 1962 ), and P. Requadt , "Gottfried Benn und das 'sudliche Wort"', Neophilologus, xlvi (1962), 50-66.

M. Hamburger and C. Middleton , Modern German Poetry 1910-1960 (London, 1962), p. xxxvi.

Op. cit. (ref. 19), iv, 132, and op. cit. (ref. 18), 126f.

Georg Lukács , '''GröBe und Verfall' des Expressionismus" (1934), reprinted in Expressionismus. Der Kampf um eine literarische Bewegung, ed. by P. Raabe (Munich, 1965), 254-73.