"During the rise of fascism, German Expressionists battled the right and tirelessly attacked the forces of conservatism, militarism, and high finance. Expressionists derided the status quo and made it a constant target for their artworks. However, not all Expressionist artists were overtly political... some turned towards religious themes in turning away from the brutal realities of the time... others took up portraiture or landscape painting... but all came to despise the rightist thugs who strangled art and democracy in Germany. It should come as no surprise that with the eventual coming to power of the Nazis... many artists lost their teaching positions and were forbidden to create or exhibit. Others went into exile or were imprisoned... some were simply killed."

The conflict of ''overtly political'' material versus greater subtlety would probably have been a tug-of-war on Gridcosm--much as it is today. Perhaps the artists respected each another more then. Would they have tolerated the clash of different styles? And the impossibility of composition and other laws of art? Or would it have been too much for them? Maybe we're better prepared to tolerate this particular kind of weirdness.

John Heartfield started out as a dadaist and did pioneering political photomontage. His work was the least subtle. No wonder he interests me. Cut And Paste: John Heartfield <homepage.ntlworld.com>

I'm not nearly as political as DGT. Whatever happened to him?

George Grosz did a fine caricature of a man with shit for brains. ART FOR A CHANGE - George Grosz, German Expressionist Artist <www.art-for-a-change.com>

The other German artists were subtler. Some of them may be more interesting to you than me. For example, ''The Yellow Cow'' by Franz Marc reminds me a bit of EHO's work. Here's a website gives a good overview of the art world in Germany during the rise of Hitler. Untitled Document <tinyurl.com>