In 1925 the art critic and publisher of the magazine "Das Kunstblatt" Paul Westheim published an anthology of "letters, diary pages, and observations by contemporary artists" titled "Künstlerbekenntnisse" (Artists’ Confessions). The authors featured in the collection included Pablo Picasso, Wassily Kandinsky, George Grosz, Oskar Kokoschka, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Ludwig Meidner. In his text Meidner proclaimed – in a manner that was certainly provocative in the context of such an anthology – the unconditional primacy of religion over art.

This and similar autobiographical texts written by Meidner during the 1920s have been understandably interpreted as evidence of the artist’s break with Expressionism. In fact, Meidner recast many of the aspects of his conception of expressionist artistry in religious terms, as exemplified here in his emphasis on the immediacy and totality of prayer:

"Earlier, when I only drew and painted, no other activity on earth seemed more important than drawing and painting. Since receiving the divine gift I know of nothing more blissful and fulfilling than a pure prayer. Earlier, drawing and painting were the only goals of my day. Now, because I pray, I recognize with certainty and clarity that only this praying has meaning and that everything else I do – even drawing and painting – is only a dubious way of passing time. You godless may laugh at the praying man and his mien, but you do not know what is happening in his heart. And you may overvalue the work of the artist because you do not realize that the truly praying man is in fact a far greater artist; in the artist there is immediacy, accumulation and devotion, but in the praying man there dwells even greater immediacy, greater accumulation and devotion; in addition he is possessed of an incomparable seriousness, a reverence and ardency, for he stands before the mighty Lord who made us all; he does not do this on his own account and for his own pleasure like the artist; rather, the praying man prays that God will also find pleasure in his prayer, and that the Lord so rejoices in his servant that he imbues him with overflowing love, divine peace and heavenly delight.
Oh, I am so blessed, merciful God, because you have presented me with the sublime art of prayer, which is greater than all arts of the world and has so often and so richly comforted me with tears. May I also continue to draw and paint – for this is not forbidden and is my earthly profession – and may I also gain some small pleasures from this activity – one day, when sight fails, I will have to put away pencil and brush and will never again be able to think of painting. But today, tomorrow and always I want to cultivate the art of prayer with Your blessing, You benevolent Father, and even when I am dying I want still to be able to pray with Your help, and later, if I am permitted to join the host of Your holy beings, I will do nothing other than apply myself to this eternal art. As your truest subject, I will, in holy rejoicing, worship You and your divine glory, forever, Amen!"
(Ludwig Meidner, On true art (Von wahrer Kunst), in: Künstlerbekenntnisse. Briefe / Tagebuchblätter / Betrachtungen heutiger Künstler, ed. by Paul Westheim, Berlin n.d. [1925], pp. 255-257 (reprint in: Ludwig Meidner. Zeichner, Maler, Literat (exhibition catalog Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt 1991/92), Stuttgart 1991, Bd. II, p. 363f.)

Further Reading:
Ljuba Berankova and Erik Riedel (Ed.), Apokalypse und Offenbarung. Religiöse Themen im Werk von Ludwig Meidner (Schriftenreihe des Jüdischen Museums Frankfurt am Main Bd. 5), Sigmaringen 1996.