Artwork Page for Hope and Despair II

Details / Information for Hope and Despair II

Hope and Despair II

1931

Ernst Barlach

(German, 1870–1938)
Culture
Germany, 20th century
Medium
lithograph
Credit Line
Gift of The Print Club of Cleveland in memory of William J. Eastman 1953.344
Catalogue raisonné
Schult 293
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print

Description

In both his sculpture and prints, Barlach expressed the suffering and anguish of World War I (1914-18) and the difficult years that followed. The artist, whose work depicts ordinary workers, wrote: "Truly, not beauty and loveliness is our strength, our power, but rather the opposite, ugliness, daemonic passion and the grotesque genius of greatness..."
A horizontally oriented lithograph depicts three figures on sloping ground. To our left, a figure huddles low, completely shrouded in a dark, heavy robe. In the center, a person kneels with head tilted upward and wide eyes, wearing a light garment under a dark cloak. To our right, another figure is partially obscured by dense, expressive hatching. A signature is visible in the bottom right corner.

Hope and Despair II

1931

Ernst Barlach

(German, 1870–1938)
Germany, 20th century

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