''Die Fahne Hoch!'' is an enamel on canvas painting by American artist

Frank Stella Frank Philip Stella (May 12, 1936 – May 4, 2024) was an American painter, sculptor, and printmaker, noted for his work in the areas of minimalism and post-painterly abstraction. He lived and worked in New York City for much of his career befor ...

, completed in 1959. It is held at the

Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is a Modern art, modern and Contemporary art, contemporary American art museum located in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighbor ...

, in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Description and analysis

The use of basic geometric systems in the work is regarded by many as the precursor of

Minimalism In visual arts, music, and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in the post-war era in western art. The movement is often interpreted as a reaction to abstract expressionism and modernism; it anticipated contemporary post-mi ...

. The painting was made by marking equal subdivisions along the sides, bottom and top edges of the canvas and using these intervals to generate simple, symmetrical patterns consisting of bands of black enamel paint separated by thin lines of unpainted canvas. Stella gave the work a provocative title, ''Die Fahne Hoch!'', which means ''Raise the Flag!'', in German, that is first line of the anthem of the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

, the "

Horst-Wessel-Lied The "" (), also known by its incipit "" ('The Flag Raised High'), was the anthem of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) from 1930 to 1945. From 1933 to 1945, the Nazis made it the co-national anthem of Germany, along with the first stanza of the "". The "" ...

", and is one of three paintings in the series that make direct reference to

Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...

. By applying a hotly emotive title to the image, Stella's ironic purpose was that of destabilizing the idea of meaning itself. The

website states that "the painting's title, cruciform configuration, and flaglike proportions call to mind not only Nazi banners but the darkness and annihilation of

the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

. The phrase may also refer to raising the banner of a new aesthetic, one that marked a shift away from

Abstract Expressionism Abstract expressionism in the United States emerged as a distinct art movement in the aftermath of World War II and gained mainstream acceptance in the 1950s, a shift from the American social realism of the 1930s influenced by the Great Depressi ...

and anticipated the geometry and rigor of Minimalism."Frank Stella, Die Fahne hoch!, Whitney Museum of American Art
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fahne Hoch! (Frank Stella), Die 1959 paintings Paintings by Frank Stella Paintings in the Whitney Museum of American Art