Gruppe 33

“Group 33” was founded on the same day Nazis began burning books en masse, 10 May 1933[1] and is named after the year 1933.

[2] It was formed by 15 artists out of a shared political ideology in conjunction with a growing resistance to Nazi influence in the border town of Basel.

[3] The members also opposed the dominance of older conservative artists who controlled the Society of Swiss Painters, Sculptors, and Architects (German: Gesellschaft Schweizerischer Maler, Bildhauer und Architekten, or GSMBA).

[4] The collective was mostly made up of artists and architects from many different disciplines, but also included poets, musicians, actors, and writers.

[4] Their work was varied in expression as well as medium, incorporating avant-garde, surrealism, constructivism, and New Objectivity.