How did the Nazis respond to Wassily Kandinsky’s abstract art?

The Nazi Party systematically suppressed Wassily Kandinsky’s work, labeling his abstract art as "degenerate" because it did not align with Nazi ideological standards of heroism and duty.123

Following the Nazi rise to power in 1933, the regime forced the closure of the Bauhaus, where Kandinsky had been teaching, prompting him to immigrate to Paris. The Nazis subsequently confiscated thousands of works of modern art from German museums, including pieces by Kandinsky.132

In 1937, the regime organized the "Entartete Kunst" (Degenerate Art) exhibition in Munich, which was designed to disparage modern artists by displaying their work alongside art created by psychiatric patients. This propaganda campaign sought to link modern art to the perceived decline of German culture. The Nazis ultimately auctioned off many of these confiscated works to finance the party or destroyed them, reflecting their total rejection of artistic freedom and their commitment to enforcing a narrow, state-sanctioned aesthetic.2