Talk:Degenerate Art auction

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A fact from Degenerate Art auction appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 5 January 2022 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:

Did you know... that the Degenerate Art auction in 1939, which included paintings by Van Gogh and Picasso, raised only $115,000?

A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2022/January. The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/1939 Degenerate Art auction.

Wikipedia

Did you know nomination[edit]

The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by Theleekycauldron (talk) 09:45, 31 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

(

Comment or view
Article history

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... that the auction of degenerate art in 1939 was organized in Lucerne? Source: acquisitions by Liège at the sale of “degenerate art” in Lucerne. On 30th June 1939
- ALT1: ... that the Degenerate Art auction, in which paintings of Van Gogh and Picasso were sold, had only a revenue of about $115,000? Source: [Amount in Swiss Francs and Reichsmarks and Van Gogh https://www.welt.de/print/die_welt/kultur/article121036404/Als-niemand-mehr-Nolde-wollte.html] [Among these trophies, six works at least are major landmarks in the careers of their creators: The Blue House by Marc Chagall, Death and the Masks by James Ensor, The sorcerer of Hiva Oa by Paul Gauguin, Monte-Carlo by Oscar Kokoschka, Horses Grazing by Franz Marc and The Soler Family by Pablo Picasso./https://en.laboverie.com/the-collections/the-beaux-arts-de-liege-collections/survey-of-the-acquisitions-by-the-city-of-liege/the-acquisitions-by-liege-at-the-sale-of-201cdegenerate-art201d-in-lucerne 2]amount in $: Stephanie Barron p.143
- ALT2: ... that the Degenerate Art auction on 1939, in which paintings of Van Gogh, Picasso, Chagall, Gauguin and Kokoschka were sold, had only a revenue of about $115,000? Source:[1] Stephanie Barron p.143
- ALT3:... that the auction of Degenerate Art removed from German Museums by the Nazis, in which paintings by Van Gogh, Picasso, Gauguin and Kokoschka were sold had a revenue of about $115,000? sources per above
- ALT4... that an auction in which paintings by Van Gogh, Picasso and Gauguin were sold, had a revenue of only about $115,000?sources per above

- Reviewed: Template:Did you know nominations/Rudolf Pohl
- Comment: The names of the artists can be adapted. The source for the dollars (the currency I prefer for the hook) is in a book which I can't access online, so I provide an online source for Swiss francs and Reichsmark which was also not much at the time.

Created by Paradise Chronicle (talk). Self-nominated at 00:17, 15 December 2021 (UTC).[reply]

I am starting to review this (very interesting!) article.

New enough, long enough: yes. I would prefer Alt2, but the link to the source does not work? Also; it would be great with a commons-cat, and a picture of one or two of the pictures featured in the auction? Say, The Bride of the Wind or Fate of the Animals?

Also, Gauguin is mentioned in the hook, but not in the article? I was looking at his The sorcerer of Hiva Oa, which would be a very nice illustration in the article, Huldra (talk) 23:13, 17 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

I have adapted the DYK per your suggestion, but to me it is still a mystery how to involve the image in the hook.Paradise Chronicle (talk) 01:05, 18 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

I have removed the image again. As to me the focus should be on the auction and not on a specific painting.Paradise Chronicle (talk) 03:05, 19 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Huldra, are you planning to return to your review here, or should I request a new reviewer? Thanks. BlueMoonset (talk) 02:57, 29 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

User:BlueMoonset; I am very sorry, the holiday season got me "off track". Yes, I am very definitely continuing this review. Also; I think the way it is now; with pictures at the end of the article, but not a part of the hook is fine, cheers, Huldra (talk) 21:38, 29 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]
No copy-right problems, hook Alt 2 verfied in source (except Picasso, and I AGF that is in Barron p.143). The article Bathers with a Turtle should possibly be linked from the article? It was sold to Joseph Pulitzer Jr. But even without that; I think this is:
good to go with Alt2, Huldra (talk) 22:35, 29 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Picasso is in the source of La Boverie provided also for hook ALT2.Paradise Chronicle (talk) 22:44, 29 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, you are right. I have no idea as to how I managed to miss that. Anyway, even without the La Boverie source it is very easy to find sources for Picasso's inclusion in the auction, Huldra (talk) 23:10, 29 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Modified ALT2 to T:DYK/P2

Article title[edit]

Paradise Chronicle, is there a reason the article is titled "Degenerate Art auction" and not "Degenerate art auction"? A quick glance at the sourcing doesn't reveal a reason for that capitalization. theleekycauldron (talk • contribs) (they/she) 21:02, 31 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Probably because I reasoned it was about Degenerate Art, not about a Degenerate (art auction). If we decide to downsize it, the other article on the topic Degenerate Art Exhibition could also be downsized. Paradise Chronicle (talk) 21:16, 31 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

$115,000?[edit]

Is the $115,000 in 1939 dollars or 2022 dollars? $115,000 would be about $2.3 million today, not much compared to current art prices, but still a considerable amount. Thriley (talk) 18:24, 5 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]

1939 dollars. In Swiss francs it was about 500.000. Paradise Chronicle (talk) 18:58, 5 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Was this a low total price for these works at the time? What were they going for in the regular marketplace? I think some sentences discussing this would be appropriate. Thriley (talk) 19:25, 5 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]