Lot 91 Dα

The artist created a plaster version of the "Asket" in 1925 (Laur 387, Ernst Barlach Stiftung Güstrow), of which several plaster casts were taken and which served as a model for the bronze casts from 1961 onwards, as well as a larger version in walnut (Laur 389, Ernst Barlach Haus Hamburg).
In the mid-1920s Ernst Barlach worked on a number of figures characterised by an attitude of complete inward absorption, with their eyes closed and their bodies wrapped in loose-fitting drapery resembling a cocoon and largely obscuring their forms. The standing figure “Schwangeres Mädchen” from 1924 (Laur 371-373), “Der Träumer” from 1925 (Laur 382-384) and also “Der Asket (Der Beter)”, which is offered here in a bronze version, are to be mentioned in this context. As similar as these three works may be in their general formal features, each is just as different in its emotional content. While “Schwangeres Mädchen” pulls her drapery around her, seeking protection and attempting to conceal her precarious condition, a directly contented and carefree air can be noted in the pose of the “Träumer”, stretched out with his hands behind his head. By contrast the “Asket”, who displays self-portrait-like features, is depicted in an upright, active pose of deep meditation and inward absorption. Its block-like structure is animated through the harmoniously curving lines of the drapery, which bring out the intensity of the finely worked face to an exceptional degree.
Here Barlach has depicted himself within the context of his undemanding way of life, completely concentrated on his intense artistic efforts. “The rigid renunciation of satisfying sensual needs is the price - and the calm and tranquillity of soul which arise with the clarity of spiritual insight is the reward - of this way of life. In his formulation of the 'Asket' Barlach has unmistakably processed experiences that defined his own existence as an artist.” (Eva Caspers, Museumsführer Ernst Barlach Haus Hamburg, Munich 2000, p. 84).