New Masses – Old Magazine Articles

Martha Graham’s Art (New Masses, 1944)

A review of Martha Graham’s sell-out Broadway performance from January, 1944:

Martha Graham’s art has always been characterized by constatnt experimentation with new forms and new contents.

An Anti-Interventionist Cartoon (The Masses, 1917)

The socialist New York magazine The Masses maintained that the 1914 – 1918 war in Europe was not a concern for Americans and this is a great cartoon by the cartoonist Cornelia Barns (1888 – 1941) to illustrate the point; Barns was also one of the magazine’s editors.

John Sloan Ridiculed Cubism (The Masses, 1913)

Although realist painter John Sloan (1871 – 1951) was one of the fortunate American painters to also be included in the 1913 Armory Show (he was also on the organizing committee), it did not mean that he was above ridiculing the European modernists who were enjoying the same prestige that he was.

To read an anti-Picasso review from that same period, click here.

Moses Soyer on David Bruliuk (New Masses, 1944)

Albert Ganzenmüller (New Masses, 1944)

Obergrupenfuehrer Albert Ganzenmüller (1905 – 1996) was responsible for running the German rail roads. This not only involved delivering troops and ordinance to the various fronts but also deporting Jews, Poles, Croats and Slovenes to assorted death camps:

Ganzenmüller’s special contribution to these migrations was his invention of the railroad-car gas chamber to exterminate Jews.

‘Confessions of a Nazi Officer” (New Masses, 1944)

Lieutenant K. F. Brandes of the German Army was killed on October 24 [1944] on the right bank of the Dnieper. A diary was found on him. I have seen many diaries of German officers and soldiers… It was written by a clever and educated man. Brandes was a Fascist. He calls the conquest of Europe the ‘German Spring’. Like his colleagues he came to Russia for ‘lebensraum’… But as distinct from other Hitlerites, Brandes saw the limit of his dreams. He faithfully described the disintegration of the German Army, showed the meanness of the men who are still ruling Germany. I will cite the most interesting excerpts from his diary.

Anticipating the Distasteful Ending (The Masses, 1914)

Although not known as a clairvoyant, this 1914 cartoon by the New York artist John Sloan (1871 – 1951) seemed to predict the lousy ending that would play out four years after W.W. I reached its bloody climax.