Art that triumphed beneath the Nazi jackboot

Artists fought the censorship of France’s cultural life, writes Tracy McNicoll

OF THE many indignities foisted on occupied France, the charade of a vibrant Paris art scene under the Nazi jackboot was salt on an open wound.

A pageant of rubber-stamped galas filled an ersatz cultural calendar while, in hovels across the country, artists — many persecuted for their heritage, beliefs, or “degenerate” creations — defied a war waged not least against art. Now, at the Musée d’Art Moderne of the City of Paris, a retrospective, L’Art en Guerre, France 1938–1947, explores that dark era.