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Collection Publications: Klinger to Kollwitz Labels0
Barlach was truly a Doppelbegabte, an artist with multiple talents. In addition to his expertise in the graphic arts, he was a gifted sculptor, poet, novelist, and playwright. Barlach's early career, however, was wrought with struggle and disappointment. It was not until he visited his brother in Russia in 1906 that he developed his signature style. In the Steppes, he was deeply moved by the hardworking peasants and the vast expanse of landscape in which they led their lives. The sculptural quality of the human form wrapped in heavy clothing became the subject matter through which Barlach expressed inner turmoil and the harsh reality of the human condition.
In his autobiography, A Selftold Life (1927), Barlach described how this trip to Russia had influenced his work: "I saw that the field was waiting for me, ripe for the cutting. Form‚—mere form? No. I was struck with the incredible realization: to you it is given to express, without reserve, all that is within you‚—the uttermost, the innermost, the gentle gestures of piety and the rude gestures of rage, because for everything, be it paradise, hell, or one in the guise of the other, there is expressive form. And it is probably in Russia that either or both have been realized."
In his autobiography, A Selftold Life (1927), Barlach described how this trip to Russia had influenced his work: "I saw that the field was waiting for me, ripe for the cutting. Form‚—mere form? No. I was struck with the incredible realization: to you it is given to express, without reserve, all that is within you‚—the uttermost, the innermost, the gentle gestures of piety and the rude gestures of rage, because for everything, be it paradise, hell, or one in the guise of the other, there is expressive form. And it is probably in Russia that either or both have been realized."
