Emil Betzler Karneval / Carnival German Expressionist Work on Paper, 1960

Emil Betzler was a German Expressionist painter and graphic artist, author and teacher. He belongs to the generation of Chagall, Ernst, Dix and Grosz and was a friend of Germany's best-known Expressionist painter, sculptor and printmaker Max Beckmann. Betzler was a co-founder of the artist group Ghat. In 1933, Betzler was accused by the National Socialists of being a representative of deformed, expressionistic, Bolshevik art, a spy of the Jews and a member of the KPD. The Nazis had branded his work as Degenerate Art. In 1967, Betzler was awarded the German Federal Cross of Merit. Paintings by Emil Betzler are rarely seen in the art market. His artwork was shown in 32 galleries and museums inter alia in Frankfurt/M., Düsseldorf, Berlin, Ancona and Paris and thereof eight solo exhibitions.