In a divided country with a bipartisan government, it can feel overwhelming to entertain other contentious divisions. New York’s Neue Galerie thinks otherwise. Its exhibition on the German movement called Neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity) highlights the sharply differing philosophies between the “unflinching and socially critical” Verists, artists like Otto Dix, and the aesthetically harmonious work of Classicists such as Christian Schad. The show explores the tension between both schools through a brilliant multidisciplinary installation of paintings, sculpture, photography, decorative arts, works on paper, and film. —Carolina de Armas