Capitain Cornelius

Ernst Barlach (Wedel/Holst. 1870 - Rostock 1938)

Work model from 1913, no casts during the artist's lifetime, years of casting since 1968. Bronze, brown patinated. H. 53 x 22 x 33,5 cm. Signed E. Barlach, numbered copy 2/12, foundry mark H. NOACK BERLIN. A seated man wearing a long robe and a wide-brimmed hat. He is holding a cup in his right hand. - One can only speculate as to what might have inspired Barlach to create this depiction. Perhaps it is connected to the writing of Barlach’s autobiographical novel 'Seespeck', which he began in 1913. A similar pen-and-ink drawing has also survived in a 1913 notebook (Ernst Barlach Foundation, Güstrow). - Literature: Catalogue raisonné: Laur II, 202 - Provenance: Private collection, Hamburg - German sculptor, writer and illustrator. B. studied 1888-95 at the Hamburg Kunstgewerbeschule and at the Dresden academy. He lived in Paris for two years before working as ceramicist in Hamburg, among others for the Altona manufactory Mutz. A journey to Russia became distinctive for his work. He first exhibited sculptures from Russian folk life at the Berlin secession in 1907. Subsequently he received many important public commissions. B. was very much pressurized by the Nazis, a. many of his works were seized or destroyed. Today he is appreciated as one of the most important sculptors of the 20th cent. Mus.: Hamburg (Ernst Barlach Haus), Nuremberg (Germanisches Nationalmuseum), Schwerin a. others. Lit.: Schult (cat. rais.) a. others.