Are you Degenerate?
Degenerate! Hitler’s War on Modern Art @ The National WW2 Museum
Review by Jamie Chiarello

Among the Nazis’ other attributes, they were enormously petty. Before becoming a symbolic representation for the incarnation of pure evil, Hitler was an aspiring artist, painting watercolor postcards of castles, and hustling just enough to move himself from a homeless shelter into a men's home. His lifestyle and self-aggrandizement probably wouldn't have been entirely out of place in an early 2000's artsy punk house. He was rejected from the Academy of Fine arts Vienna in the early 1900's, supposedly for submitting a portfolio that lacked sufficient head studies. If Hitler had only studied and revered the human form a little more closely, might history have swayed down a kinder path?

In 1937, the Nazi party invited the German public to the 'Degenerate Art Exhibition' in Munich. This show was intended to define (by contrast) what standards good German art should be held to. I really can't imagine a more petty gesture than to organize an entire exhibition in order to say, "This art is trash!". The work in question was modern, what now seems commonplace was then a rebuff to the previously established classical standards. Classical art standards are generally rooted in Greco-Roman ideals; clarity in form, exaltation of developed skill sets which require patience, focus and practice, accuracy in proportion and anatomy, and awareness of how light creates form.

The show up at the National WWII Museum right now is a partial recreation of the original exhibition, and I believe I've really found the ideal way to process smaller exhibits like this. I start at the beginning and I move through, opening myself to direct experience of what is presented; in this case looking at the art without reading any of the plaques or anything on the walls. I make notes and do a lot of introspection. Then, I return to the beginning and read through everything, putting it all into the context provided. This is a direct way to build one's muscle for critical thinking, and also to witness how your own interpretation may vary with what is being presented. As an artist that holds a deep love for classical art, an (anti zionist) Jew, and person that has deeply struggled with mental health, I was prepared to have very conflicting personal responses to this show.

In our current moment, 'degenerate art' actually sounds pretty cool. In a more literal sense, to degenerate is to decay, to go backwards, to return to a simpler state of less complexity. The Nazis claimed that artistic expressions were direct reflections of a state of mind, and that the mind could be deemed healthy or sick. To be healthy was to be a pure blooded Aryan: strong and logical. A sick mind was basically anything that fell outside of these narrow boundaries.

The work in this show varies widely, and was included because it either represented artistic approaches that strayed from the classical (ie; Dadaism, Cubism, Expressionism, etc) or was created by a people that had been socially deemed as 'inferior' (ie; Jews, Bolsheviks, Blacks, the mentally ill, etc). Interestingly, many of the artists that fled Europe at this historic moment wound up in New York City, where they seeded the ground for the eventual emergence of what we consider the American avant-garde.

Hitler's own artwork has been condescendingly referred to as the work of a 'moderately ambitious amateur'. I imagine this posthumous criticism would cause him to writhe, and I believe that is the purpose of it. If Hitler had dipped his toes into some modern expressionist self portraiture, I wonder what the response would have been. The Nazi assertion of aesthetics was fairly simple: if it is modern it is bad. Do we simply mirror that sentiment with the opposing blanket of ideology: if it is modern it is good? Walking through this show looking directly at the artwork, my overall response was that a lot of this is underwhelming and mediocre. But then, I stumbled on a lithograph by Kathe Kollwitz and felt a gut punch of feelings I don't have words or slogans for. And I think that is the purpose of all art.

The three pieces included by Kollwitz are honestly reason enough to visit this show. But doubling back and fine combing the work in the context of the history presented offered its own gut punch. When you reach 1933 on the timeline, Hitler is announcing himself chancellor. What follows is book burnings, gutting of cultural institutions, arrests without due process, the creation of 'containment camps'.

Standing quietly, shoulder to shoulder with museum strangers, we read the writing on the wall. I turned to a young couple near me: "You see this right?" They gulped and nodded fervently. I suddenly felt like I might have a panic attack. I had to abruptly leave the museum. On the way out, I said goodbye to the friendly woman who I think was a museum volunteer sitting outside the entrance. She asked "Did you like the show?" to which I responded, "Well, it was horrifying really. Because…we are in it." I left feeling inspired to do lithography and to fight fascism in any form.

- Degenerate! Hitler’s War on Modern Art is at The National WW2 Museum until 10th May,2026
- See our picks of the city's current art exhibitions 
- Jamie Chiarello is a working artist in New Orleans. See her work at her website, Nameless Art

By Dorian Hatchett

Photography is the art of preserving a moment in time, and in doing so, giving that moment an entire narrative writ timeless in the unique voice of the artist. Nothing is so beneficial to art as a diverse range of perspectives. To this end, New Orleans Photo Alliance, with approximately 300 members, provides a space for that diversity to coalesce in an entirely new range of artistic opportunity.  

Comprised of photographers of all levels of skill and experience from passionate hobbyists to award winning photojournalists, New Orleans Photo Alliance (NOPA) seeks to foster a sense of community in this most science-driven art form. Member benefits include not only frequent gallery shows, but access to low-cost darkroom space and year-round educational events and workshops.  

The principle of the Pushpin Show is a simple one. Instead of a formal affair, with framed or mounted photographs revealed at an opening ceremony as a curated collection, this show starts at zero, and organically grows across the span of the event.

All NOPA members are invited to participate. Just bring a piece of work to contribute, place it where you like, and watch as the unspoken communication turns the exhibit into a shifting visual landscape. Members are allowed to hang their work during gallery hours on August 21 (11am-4pm), but also during the opening reception that evening (from 5-7pm) and then for the entire length of the show (through September 25th), with the only stipulation that once hanged, a piece must remain on display thought the entire show.  

The result is a show that is fluid and shifting. As new pieces join the chorus of photographic voice, the song changes, morphing across tone and theme to a spectacular crescendo of ideas.  

​The Pushpin Show is at 7800 Oak St. August 21st-September 25th. The New Orleans Photo Alliance (and membership information) can be found at neworleansphotoalliance.org 

A calendar of August's programs and events at NOMA:

Wednesday, August 6, 12:30 and 6:00 pm | Gallery Talks with Artist Elenora “Rukiya” Brown
Local artist, designer, and Black Masking Indian Elenora “Rukiya” Brown discusses her work at the museum and connections to the exhibition New African Masquerades: Artistic Innovations and Collaborations.
https://noma.org/event/gallery-talk-new-african-masquerades-artistic-innovations-and-collaborations-2/2025-08-06/ 

Friday, August 8, 6–9 pm | NOMA at Night
Explore the museum after hours during NOMA at Night, celebrating the closing of the exhibition New African Masquerades: Artistic Innovations and Collaborations. Visitors can explore the galleries, enjoy live music from Bamboula 2000, DJ sets from artist Jer’Lisa Devezin, curator-led gallery talks, exhibition-inspired food and drink from Café NOMA, and more. Tickets are $15 for NOMA members; $30 full price; free for ages 19 and under.
https://noma.org/event/noma-at-night-new-african-masquerades-closing-celebration/

Saturday, August 9, 12:30–2:00 pm | Studio KIDS!: Tinker Hatfield (Ages 11–14)
In this upcoming Studio KIDS! workshop, students will be introduced to the art and design work of Tinker Hatfield, a designer known for his numerous Air Jordan designs. After discussing the elements and principles of art and design, students will incorporate the artwork at NOMA into their Hatfield-inspired shoe designs. Registration is $25 for members; $30 full price. Advance registration is required and includes all art-making materials.
https://noma.org/event/studio-kids-tinker-hatfield-ages-11-14/ 

Wednesday, August 13, 12:30 and 6:00 pm | Gallery Talks with Artist Thameur Mejri
Artist Thameur Mejri in conversation about works in the exhibition Afropolitan: Contemporary African Arts at NOMA, which features Mejri’s 2018 work titled Untitled (Eroded Grounds). Mejri is the first Tunisian artist to be included in NOMA’s permanent collection. Included with museum admission, which is free for Louisiana residents every Wednesday. https://noma.org/event/gallery-talk-with-thameur-mejri/2025-08-13/ 

Wednesdays, August 13 and 20, 6–8 pm | Soul-Sip at NOMA
A one-of-a-kind art and wine series that offers a unique blend of relaxation, art appreciation, and wine tasting. The evening includes gallery tours featuring select wine-related artifacts from NOMA’s permanent collection, guided meditation, a three-wine flight, and small bites from Cafe NOMA. Registration is $55 for NOMA members, $65 full price. Food, wine, and meditation kit included. https://noma.org/events/category/special/soul-sip/

Thursday, August 14, 12–1 pm | Book Club: Rolland Golden: Life, Love, and Art in the French Quarter
Golden’s daugher Lucille Golden and widow Stella Golden—co-editors of his memoir—will attend this month's gathering to offer a deeper perspective on the book and the artist’s life. Free with advance registration.
https://noma.org/event/book-club-rolland-golden/ 

Wednesday, August 20, 12:30 pm | Gallery Talk with Curator Anne Collins Smith
Chief Curator Anne Collins Smith in conversation about works in the exhibition Dapper Bruce Lafitte: A Time Before Katrina. Included with museum admission, which is free for Louisiana residents every Wednesday. https://noma.org/exhibitions/dapper-bruce-lafitte-a-time-before-katrina/

Wednesday, August 20, 6:00 pm | Gallery Talk with Artist Dapper Bruce Lafitte
Artist Dapper Bruce Lafitte in conversation about works in his exhibition A Time Before Katrina, on view in NOMA’s Great Hall. Included with museum admission, which is free for Louisiana residents every Wednesday courtesy of The Helis Foundation’s Art for All initiative.
https://noma.org/exhibitions/dapper-bruce-lafitte-a-time-before-katrina/

​Nicolas Floc’h: Fleuves-Océan, Mississippi Watershed @ The New Orleans Museum of Art
Review by Jamie Chiarello

Upon walking up to the stairs of the NOMA, there is no missing the new work by Nicolas Floc'h. Without any further explanation, I would have assumed I was looking at a gigantic value study stretched from floor to ceiling. In some respects that is exactly what it is.

Of course, aesthetics are very a personal thing, and I'm sure that many people will find this piece charming and spirited. Personally, it struck me as simple and confusingly large. In an increasingly desensitized and overwhelmed world, large scale works hope to snatch our eyes for a moment.

The paragraph on the wall informs us that each color swatch is actually a photo taken at various locations and depths along the Mississippi. The array of colors are influenced by sediment, plant life and various chemical contents. There is implied a sense of revelation here, that water can be red, green, yellow or blue. It encourages us to look beyond our initial assumptions about the world around us, provoking curiosity before leading us further along the journey of the watershed.

Moving through the rooms we follow Nicolas on his venture along the river. The color swatches from various locations are interspersed among black and white photos. The photos really had an effect on me that was somewhat the opposite of the color swatches. Vast landscapes with peaks of tired industry give the feeling of aging Americana, of infrastructure quietly fading in the sun. The photos are powerful and beautiful in their own right. It made me wonder what it would have been like to simply witness the photos and feel the sensations stirred without the geography lesson.

I imagine if I had encountered this show in a science museum I would have absolutely loved it. The stress on reiterating the importance of water in our lives (particularly in relation to climate change) feels a bit redundant for a place like New Orleans. Between losing homes to hurricanes, clearing catch basins of beads and debris by hand and facing $6000 bills from sewage and water, locals know too well what intense effects water can have on our lives.

Overall, though, this show does offer educational insights into how water is optically perceived and the effects of humanity trying to simply exist amongst natural resources. I hope the questions raised by the exhibit are being addressed by engineers, politicians and those with the power to affect how much water affects our lives in coming years.

Nicolas Floc’h: Fleuves-Océan, Mississippi Watershed runs at NOMA through ​February 22nd, 2026. Click here for more information.

The custom piano played by acclaimed musical artist Jon Batiste during Super Bowl LIX is now on view in the museum’s Lapis Center for the Arts. The grand piano features a design by artist and bestselling author Suleika Jaouad, who is Batiste’s wife.

Before Sunday’s Super Bowl LIX game, Batiste performed the national anthem. A Louisiana native, Batiste is a seven-time Grammy Award-winning and Academy Award-winning artist known for his dynamic work as a singer, songwriter, and composer. Visitors to NOMA will have the unique opportunity to see the custom piano.

The New Orleans Museum of Art is open Tuesday–Sunday, 10 am–5 pm, and Wednesdays, 12–7 pm. Every Wednesday, museum admission is free for Louisiana residents courtesy of The Helis Foundation’s Art for All initiative.

The New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA) will open New African Masquerades: Artistic Innovations and Collaborations, a major exhibition presenting the work of four contemporary artists working in cities across West Africa: Chief Ekpenyong Bassey Nsa, Sheku “Goldenfinger” Fofanah, David Sanou, and Hervé Youmbi.

The first presentation of its kind, New African Masquerades offers a rare look into contemporary West African masquerade by contextualizing the works of individual artists within a range of social, economic, and religious practices and examining their networks of viewership and exchange. Made from materials including wood, cloth and fabrics, sequins, feathers, gourds, raffia, and cowry shells, the ensembles on view represent a wide variety of masquerade practices and societies. 

New African Masquerades is on view April 4–August 10, 2025, in NOMA’s first-floor Ella West Freeman Galleries. 

What's on at NOMA in the upcoming weeks:

Wednesday, December 11, 12:30 pm: Gallery Talk with Curator Brian Piper
Timed with the annual PhotoNOLA festival, Freeman Family Curator of Photographs, Prints, and Drawings Brian Piper leads a discussion about the exhibition Show & Tell: A Brief History of Photography and Text. Drawn from NOMA’s permanent collection, the exhibition explores the intersection between photography and written language, from photography’s invention to the present day. Free with museum admission. Louisiana residents receive free admission on Wednesdays courtesy of The Helis Foundation’s Art for All initiative. https://noma.org/event/gallery-121124/ 

Wednesday, December 11, 6:30 pm: Ideas in Glass with Artists Gene Koss and Deborah Czeresko
In celebration of the exhibition Sand, Ash, Heat: Glass at the New Orleans Museum of Art, the museum is hosting studio glass artists Gene Koss and Deborah Czeresko in conversation with exhibition curator Mel Buchanan in NOMA’s Lapis Center for the Arts. Gene Koss founded the glass art program at Tulane University nearly fifty years ago and served as its head until his 2024 retirement. A graduate of Tulane’s glass program under Koss, Czeresko brought her artistic voice in glass to a wider audience as the winner of the inaugural season of Netflix’s Blown Away in 2019. Free with museum admission. Louisiana residents receive free admission on Wednesdays courtesy of The Helis Foundation’s Art for All initiative. https://noma.org/event/glass-panel-koss-and-czeresko/ 

Wednesday, December 18, 12:30 pm: Gallery Talk on Conservation
Ingrid Seyb, NOMA’s Conservator of Objects, leads a conversation about works in the exhibition Sand, Ash, Heat: Glass at the New Orleans Museum of Art, which presents nearly 300 objects representing over 4,000 years of world history through the medium of glass.
Free with museum admission. Louisiana residents receive free admission on Wednesdays courtesy of The Helis Foundation’s Art for All initiative. https://noma.org/event/gallery-talk-121824/ 

Wednesday, December 18, 6 pm: Elders Sacred Talk Series
Each program in the Elders Sacred Talk Series, produced in partnership with the Congo Square Preservation Society, spotlights prolific elder New Orleanians, celebrating the lives they lead while providing the opportunity for visitors to learn firsthand about the impact they’ve had on our city. The series is part of NOMA’s Art Thrives initiative, which presents creative aging programs to support visitors ages 55 and up, including art-making workshops and platforms for older adults to share their experiences with audiences of all ages. Free with museum admission. Louisiana residents receive free admission on Wednesdays courtesy of The Helis Foundation’s Art for All initiative. https://noma.org/event/elders-sacred-talk-series-121824/ 

The New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA) closes out a year of programming marking 20 years of the museum’s Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden with the Visionaries Garden Party. Attendees will enjoy music, dancing, and libations under the stars surrounded by some of the most celebrated works of art of the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries. Guests are encouraged to wear festive, garden party attire.

Friday, November 8, 7–11 pm @ NOMA’s Besthoff Sculpture Garden
Funds raised support the future of NOMA and the Besthoff Sculpture Garden.
The Visionaries Garden Party is part of a year of programming, events, new installations, and more celebrating 20 years of NOMA’s Besthoff Sculpture Garden, a landmark destination for visitors from New Orleans and around the world. Other events include the Visionaries Gala on Thursday, November 7, with an extremely limited number of seats available.

Entertainment for the evening includes:

• Live music from Grammy Award-nominated band The Rumble featuring Chief Joseph Boudreaux Jr.
• DJ sets from C’est Funk featuring international grooves through a New Orleans lens
• Dance and musical performance by Jaleo Flamenco, a vibrant collective of passionate musicians and dancers committed to preserving and promoting the rich tradition of flamenco