Kemper Art Museum Staff

The artworks in this gallery complement a curated program of opera songs by baritone Justin Austin, creating connections across music, poetry, and visual art. Austin’s program is centered on Bertolt Brecht’s Threepenny Opera, with music by Kurt Weill, inspired by jazz, German folk traditions, and the avant-garde. Debuting in the late 1920s during Germany’s first democracy, the opera reflects a period of social, economic, and cultural upheaval. Leftist artists like Brecht, George Grosz, and Käthe Kollwitz used biting realism to expose social injustices and critique political profiteers.