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EVOLUTION OF SCULPTURE
For details of the origins and
development of the plastic arts
see: History of Sculpture.
TYPES OF SCULPTING
For different types of 3-D
carving, see:
Stone Sculpture
Granite, limestone, sandstone
and other rock-types.
Marble Sculpture
Pentelic, Carrara, Parian marbles.
Bronze Sculpture
Lost-wax casting method,
sandcasting, centrifugal casting.
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Examples of works from this period include
Blind Beggar and Russian Beggar-Woman with a Bowl. The sculptures
are almost crudely carved, the expressions of the figures powerful, their
bodies draped in heavy clothing. They are almost medieval in style. In
fact much of Barlach's mature sculptural works are carved in wood, a medium
that was largely ignored since the Late Gothic /Early Renaissance era
around the time of master-carvers like Veit Stoss
(1450-1533), Tilman Riemenschneider
(c.1460-1531) and Gregor Erhart (c.1470-1540). Another example of Barlach's
work from this period is Sitting Woman (1908).
War World I
When Barlach returned from Russia, his
financial situation improved considerably when he received a fixed salary
from the art dealer Paul Cassirer in return for his sculptures. As World
War I approached, Barlach, like most citizens, was a firm supporter of
the war. His patriotism can be seen in his small bronze sculpture The
Avenger (1914, Tate Gallery, London) which represents the German Army
as an unstoppable force. In 1915 he volunteered to join the army as a
soldier, but within 12 months his experiences had turned him into a pacifist
and staunch opponent of the war.
In 1926, Paul Cassirer organised an exhibition
in Berlin of 37 wooden sculptures by Barlach. The exhibition was widely
acclaimed, and led in 1933 to the award of the Prussian Order of Merit.
Barlach was finally a success. He produced several war memorials, the
most famous being the bronze sculpture of a Hovering Angel, suspended
outside of Gustrow Cathedral in 1927. This was a life-size figure of Barlach's
artist-friend Kathe Kollwitz (1867-1945).
Degenerate Art
In 1933 the Nazi party issued a manifesto
on artistic and cultural policy. It stated that "sculptures that
are offensive to the national sensibility and yet still desecrate public
squares and parks should disappear as quickly as possible, regardless
of whether these works were created by ‘geniuses’ like Lehmbruck
or Barlach." Some of Barlach's works, along with those by artists
like Paul Klee (1879–1940), Kurt Schwitters (1887-1948), Oskar Kokoschka
(1885-1980), Max Beckmann (1884-1950), Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880-1938),
Marc Chagall (1887-1985) and Otto Dix (1891-1969) were included in the
notorious Degenerate Art
Exhibition (1937), which was organised by the Nazi party to discredit
modern art.
Most forms of modern
art were denounced as degenerate, including Cubism, Dada, Surrealism,
Symbolism, post-Impressionism and Fauvism. Those artists who were unlucky
enough to be denounced were also dismissed from teaching posts and forbidden
to exhibit or sell their works. Many of Barlach's war memorials were removed
from public view. Additionally he was banned from working as a sculptor,
while his membership to the Berlin Academy of Fine Arts was cancelled.
He died soon after, in 1938.
Other Creative Works
In addition to sculpture, Barlach wrote
one novel, eight plays and an autobiography (A Self Explained Life).
He even won a German literary prize in 1924 for his efforts. He also created
countless prints and woodcut illustrations for books and journals, among
them 20 woodcuts based on a
scene from Goethe's Faust (1923) and 17 large charcoal
drawings of the Nibelungen Epic (an old German folk saga).
Most of his drawings and illustrations are held in German and American
private collections.
Legacy
Despite Barlach’s influence on the
emergence of German Expressionism, he remains relatively unknown, for
reasons which are not entirely clear. After his death, a Memorial exhibition
was held in his honour at the Buchholz gallery in New York. The same year
the London exhibition of '20th Century German Art', a protest against
the German Degenerate Art Exhibition, displayed nine of his works. Today,
Barlach's former home and studio in Gustrow, near Luneburg, are open to
the public as a museum.
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