Lot 82 Dα

The magnificent figure “Der Singende Mann” is surely Ernst Barlach’s most famous work of sculpture. The fervently singing young man holds his right knee in his locked hands while his bent left leg rests on the ground. This produces a triangular composition extending into space, and his gesture of leaning back with his eyes closed underscores the bronze’s simultaneously expressive and contemplative character. With this relaxed pose and cheerful, untroubled facial expression, it stands in contrast to the otherwise more serious and statuesque effect of the sculptor’s works.
Berthold Brecht, a keen observer of his time, described the realistic and human quality of the “Singender Mann” in 1952 in the notes he wrote about a Barlach exhibition in West Berlin: “The singing man, a bronze of 1928, sings boldly, in a free pose, clearly working on his singing. He sings alone but seems to have listeners. Barlach’s humour wishes him to be a little vain, but not more so than is compatible with the practice of art.” (cited in: Der Bildhauer Ernst Barlach. Skulpturen und Plastiken im Ernst Barlach Haus – Stiftung Hermann F. Reemtsma, Hamburg 2007, p. 159).
Following the death of Barlach’s gallerist Paul Cassirer in 1926, Alfred Flechtheim became responsible for his sculptural work. He encouraged the artist, who had completely concentrated on the material of wood up to that point, to use bronze more often in realising his sculptures. Thus, following the 1927 monument in Güstrow, the “Singender Mann” would be among the first sculptures that Barlach conceived with a full sense of conviction in what was a new material for him. This also explains the sculpture’s great popularity: the edition released by Flechtheim sold out shortly after it was released, a new edition was produced after the war and, today, this work is among the most sought-after German Expressionist sculptures.