Meanings
gesamtkunstwerk1
plural gesamtkunstwerks
- Alternative letter-case form of Gesamtkunstwerk.
Gesamtkunstwerk2
plural Gesamtkunstwerks · alternative gesamtkunstwerk
- Total artwork; an artistic creation such as an operatic performance that encompasses music, theatre and the visual arts.
The original PokéRap is no Gesamtkunstwerk.
2019 April 7, Brian David Gilbert, “The Perfect PokéRap”2 more examples
Andre Emmerich, Mr. Hockney's longtime New York dealer, said: "There's a nice German word, gesamtkunstwerk. It means the entirety is a work of art."
1993 January 21, Trip Gabriel, “Acquainted with the Light”, in New York Times, New YorkReferences to the Gesamtkunstwerk, or total work of art, abound in modernist discourse in the disciplines of art and architectural history ...
2008 September 14, Juliet Koss, “The Myth of the Gesamtkunstwerk”, in Der Tagesspiegel, Berlin
Origin
- GermanGesamtkunstwerk“total artwork”
- EnglishGesamtkunstwerk
From German Gesamtkunstwerk (“total artwork”), synthesis of the arts; used by the composer Richard Wagner.
More words from German
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Finnish kokonaistaideteos
- kokonaistaideteosoperatic performance
French œuvre d'art totale, spectacle total
- œuvre d'art totaleoperatic performance
- spectacle totaloperatic performance
- théâtre totaloperatic performance
German Gesamtkunstwerk
- Gesamtkunstwerkoperatic performance
Polish synteza sztuki
- synteza sztukioperatic performance
Cite this entry
gesamtkunstwerk. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gesamtkunstwerk
“gesamtkunstwerk.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gesamtkunstwerk. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gesamtkunstwerk,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gesamtkunstwerk.
Source: gesamtkunstwerk on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.