Gerhard Marcks
Social Consciousness
1950
Bronze sculpture Height 79 cm Artist's signum on cast-with plinth to rear left and foundry mark "RICH BARTH BLN MARIENDORF" as well as incised exemplar number "II" on rear plinth edge to the left. Ex. II of three casts with Roman numeration beside three casts with Arabic numeration. - Fine dark brown patina.
This sculpture was created in connection with a call for submissions for a work in a larger format, which was to go to an American foundation through the mediation of the art dealer Curt Valentin, who had emigrated to the US in 1937. Thematically, it deals with the Americans' readiness to help Germany after World War II, that is, the social consciousness of the American people. Beyond this, the bronze bears witness to Marcks's general interest in the essence of humankind and the forms of our behaviour - within this area, particularly in his late period, he worked on interpersonal themes and depicted people having personal conversations, neighbours or affectionate lovers, but also pregnant women.
Catalogue Raisonné
Rudloff 549; Gerhard Marcks works diary plaster/bronze no. 355
Provenance
Galerie Nierendorf Berlin; acquired there, since then private collection, North Germany
Literature
Sammlungskatalog Gerhard Marcks-Stiftung Bremen 1971, cat. no. 88, illus. 43
Exhibitions
Frankfurt 1956 (Kunstverein), Gerhard Marcks, cat. no. 38 with illus.; Berlin 1974 (Galerie Nierendorf), Gerhard Marcks, cat. no. 71 with illus.