Peinture et diplomatie dans l’entre-deux-guerres, l’exemple de l’échec du projet d’exposition Max Liebermann au musée du Jeu de paume en 1927

The failure of the plan to exhibit Liebermann’s paintings at the musée du Jeu de paume in 1927. In 1927, Karl Scheffler, the head of the review Kunst und Künstler suggested to Louis Réau, chief editor of the Gazette des Beaux-arts, that, after Berlin, Paris should host an exhibition of Max Liebermann’s works, in honor of his eighty years of age. The French political leaders, who had been stirving to reestablish a pacified relationship with Germany since the signature of the Treaty of Locarno in 1925, encouraged the organization of the exhibition which they saw as the symbol of a cultural reconciliation. However, Max Liebermann’s participation to the Manifesto of the 93 in 1914 was brought back to attention, giving rise to nationalist demonstrations which jeopardized the event. This article reconstructs the context of the project and analyses the complex reasons for its failure.