Lot 161 Dα

This auction brings together five important bronze sculptures from the second half of Ernst Barlach's career as an artist. The central significance of the drapery is characteristic of Barlach's sculptural oeuvre, and he developed his figures through its form. It unifies the body by encasing it and ensures a concentration on gesture and pose. Emotional agitation can also be visualised through it. This defines the 1921 work "Ruhe auf der Flucht I" (Lot 160), in particular. The little preliminary study for the "Güstrower Ehrenmal" (Lot 158) was done in preparation for the final composition of the monument for Güstrow Cathedral - an over-life-size sculpture in the round that Barlach himself usually referred to as "Engel". The first cast for Güstrow was removed in 1937 and later melted down; the second cast has been in Cologne's Antoniterkirche since 1952. The "Christusmaske I" (Lot 159), in turn, belongs to a series of studies of Christ's head: it was created in 1931 in preparation for a seated draped figure, the "Lehrender Christus". Finally "Der Empfindsame" (Lot 163) and "Der Flötenbläser" (Lot 161) belong to the last phase in the work of Barlach, who died in 1938 - a period overshadowed by the repressive measures of the Nazis.