A Socialist Family of Man: Rita Maahs' and Karl-Eduard von Schnitzler's Exhibition 'Vom Glück des Menschen'

Review | Rezension

In 1967, an exhibition opened in East Berlin that proposed, through an overload of images, to unite the histories of the Soviet Union and the GDR, and to confront international photography exhibitions produced in the United States and West Germany. More than the design principles and methods of this show, entitled Vom Glück des Menschen or On the Happiness of People, directly connect it with Edward Steichen’s The Family of Man exhibition, first presented at MoMA in New York in 1953. Its original title was in fact The Socialist Family of Man, and its designers addressed Steichen’s show directly with a scathing critique that echoes the critical discourse in general around The Family of Man. Ultimately, and despite the acknowledged relationship of the exhibition to its Western model, Vom Glück des Menschen also departed from it, crafting a narrative through photographs specifically designed for a socialist society under construction.

Object Details

• ISSN: 1612-6041
• Extent: Seite(n): 370-382
• Language: Englisch
• Notes: Status: Veröffentlichungsversion; begutachtet (peer reviewed)

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Zeithistorische Forschungen / Studies in Contemporary History, 12(2)

Classification and Topics

• Subject: Geschichte ; allgemeine Geschichte

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Goodrum, Sarah
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (where): Deutschland
• (when): 2015

Further information

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.14765/zzf.dok-1451
• Last update: 21.06.2024, 4:27 PM CEST