Wilhelm Lehmbruck

Wilhelm Lehmbruck biography

From 1895 to 1906, Lehmbruck studied first at the Düsseldorf School of Applied Art and then in the sculptors’ course at the Düsseldorf Academy of Art. At the “Internationale Kunstausstellung” 1904 in Düsseldorf he was fascinated by the work of Rodin. During his years as a student, Lehmbruck undertook numerous journeys to study art – within Germany as well as to Italy.

In 1907 he moved into his first studio of his own, in Düsseldorf, and he accepted commissions for portraits and – sometimes monumental – funerary sculptures, demonstrating his first successes as an artist. Soon thereafter he had already established connections to important collectors, such as Karl Ernst Osthaus. In 1910 Lehmbruck and his family moved to Paris, where he had already been regularly participating in exhibitions for three years. While his interest in the work of Rodin can be recognised in his early sculptures, an influence more in the direction of Aristide Maillol later gradually became tangible. In 1911 he created the subsequently famous expressive figure of the “Knieende” (Kneeling Figure) in cast stone. Lehmbruck retained the expressive, gestural style of this figure until the end of his life. His works had already been exhibited internationally at an early date and, in 1913, he was the only German sculptor to take part in the Armory Show in New York. In the following year, he relocated to Berlin and moved into a studio near the Noack foundry. In January of 1916, he was sent to Strasbourg as a war painter; however, he was soon freed from military duty on account of his impaired hearing. He spent the years from 1916 until his suicide in March 1919 with his family in Zurich. In addition to sculptural works, Lehmbruck’s oeuvre also includes numerous graphic works and paintings.