"Die Kunst ist tot! - Es lebe die Kunst". Fritz Karpfen als Hodeget internationaler Avantgarden

The aim of this article is to show that the now largely unknown author, storyteller, playwright, art critic, feature writer, publisher, editor, magazine editor, contributor to Ver! (1918/19), in Revolution! (1919) and Die Kritik (1923/24), sports and tourism activist, resistance fighter and anarchist Fritz Karpfen (1897-1952) in Vienna notonlyplayed a central role in the dissemination and evaluation of avant-garde artfromScandinavia, Holland and Russia during the period of upheaval after theFirstWorld War, from 1921 onwards, but must also be regarded as the firsttoattempt to organize the confusing situation of the avant-gardes in Europe as a whole in a synopsis. Fritz Karpfen thus advanced to become an important mediator of Soviet and Nordic avant-garde art, which historical avant-garde research, possibly concentratingtoo one-sidedly on pre-selected traveling exhibitions and prominent magazines, completely overlooked.