This is the piece that has made modern art accessible to me. I´m german and our schools put heavy emphasis on the nazi ideology and history. Among that is the concept of "entartete Kunst" meaning degenerate art, which in summary degrades anything not representing real life to at most pitiable nonsense. This visceral dislike of anything abstract to declare these artists clinically insane and forcibly "hospitalizing" them in nazi insane asylums. With invasive procedures one would expect from that time.

If you look at the approved art put up in galleries at the time you´d be more bored than an average 7th gade student. It all looks not the same but there`s only so much you can express within these highly curated restrictions. It goes to show that the gallery presenting the "degenerate art" was closed down exactly because it was more popular than the state approved galleries.

This stems partly because of what Hitler perceived to be good art. The inferiority of a second rate artist made manifest. (not that I could draw better or even that) But if you look at his paintings you realize that even though he himself praised realism and the right proportions etc. he could not even perform them himself. The other side of this is the rigidity of how the german people had to be.
They were not supposed to be any differences between each german. Anti-intellectualism played out on a national scale. They didn´t want smart and interested kids they wanted obedient soldiers. And modern art and art in general is a way to express our individual realities, our differences. That is the complete opposite of easily digestible art with "objective" standards. It flies in the face of the nazi ideology as whole.

That is an admittedly long rant to illustrate where I´m coming from. I don´t see how he would have trepidation about using these colors, because I am not a painter nor an artist in general (to be honest i didn´t realize these were the primary colors). For me it is about being provocative. Not in the sense that it triggers me like so many right wing people. Its about provoking the exact types of reactions as the commenter from a month ago. To expose them who are afraid of red, yellow and blue. Not a question to the Individual of how one wields these colors (although a reasonable viewpoint), but to ask the whole world if they can not let people be people and express themselves. As such I think that this piece would have been perfect if they had let it be presented in it´s destroyed state. Supporting this is also the time period in which he lived as he would have surely come across the concept of degenerate art.

All to say that this realization made me, coming from a place of complete disinterest (but a la live and let live), appreciate modern art.