Sculpture "The Singer (Singing Monastery Student)" (1931), reduction in bronze
Sculpture "The Singer (Singing Monastery Student)" (1931), reduction in bronze
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ars mundi Exclusive Edition | limited, 980 copies | bronze | patinated | numbered | signature | foundry stamp | certificate | reduction | size 7.5 x 33 x 5 cm (w/h/d) | weight 2.2 kg
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Sculpture "The Singer (Singing Monastery Student)" (1931), reduction in bronze
Ernst Barlach's "Community of Saints": Symbols of Human Existence
Ernst Barlach was highly respected as a writer and sculptor of figurative sculptures until the 1930s. In 1925, he became an honorary member of the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. During this period, he also created various monumental memorials that were to become world-famous (including the "Güstrow Memorial", and the famous "Floating Angel" located in Güstrow Cathedral). In 1934, however, the tables had turned. When Barlach was in his sixties, the Nazis denounced his works as "degenerate" and removed them from the museums. The monuments he created were destroyed. The "Floating Angel" located in the Güstrow Cathedral was even melted down - and if friends had not hidden a second copy until the end of the war, the work would be lost today.
The fate of the sculptures "Woman in the Wind" and "The Singer" were similar. They were confiscated along with around 380 other works by Barlach. Their saviour was also their client: Carl Georg Heise, a museum director in Lübeck. He had encouraged Barlach in 1929 to design a sculpture ensemble with the title "Community of Saints" for the west façade of St. Catherine's Church in Lübeck. There were to be 16, but only three were realised between 1930 and 1932 ("The Beggar", "The Singer" and "The Woman in the Wind"). Three other figures: "The Bound", "The Pilgrim" and "The Hornblower" have been preserved in preliminary models. Carl Georg Heise was dismissed in 1933 but claimed the existing three figures as private property. In 1939, the year after Barlach's death, they were handed over to him, and so they survived the war period "in boxes [...] under the veranda in my mother-in-law's house," he later reported. It was not until 1947 that they finally found their way into the designated niches of St Catherine's Church.
The spatial effect of the Gothic church and the narrowness of the niches as a place of installation determined Barlach's ideas about form. The proximity to medieval sculpture is unmistakable. However, Barlach did not create figures of saints in Christian iconography. He rather created symbols of human existence, and human figures turned towards the world, "suffering and transfigured, each in his way struggling with his God" (Carl Georg Heise).
Sculpture "The Singer (Singing Monastery Student)":
The young monk raises his voice in an upright position and with a sheet of music notes in his hands. The main focus is on the singer's face revealing concentration and dedication, to God or the divine power of music. Bronze after a scaled-down model from 1931. Cast by hand using the Lost-Wax-Process and patinated. Limited edition of 980 copies, individually numbered and with the signature "E. Barlach" taken from the original as well as the foundry hallmark. ars mundi Exclusive Edition, published in cooperation with the Ernst Barlach Society. With numbered certificate of authenticity and limitation. Size 7.5 x 33 x 5 cm (w/h/d), weight 2.2 kg.
Producer: ars mundi Edition Max Büchner GmbH, Bödekerstraße 13, 30161 Hanover, Germany, [email protected]
Customer reviews
Die Skulptur erreichte uns schnell und bestens verpackt. Leider fehlte das Zertifikat. Ich mußte es erst telefonisch anfordern. Schade, sonst wären es 5 Sterne geworden!
Ein guter Guss, wobei eine Reduktion doch immer nicht das Original in seiner künstlerischen Ausstrahlung wieder geben kann.
Hallo, Mit der Skulptur bin ich in jeder Beziehung sehr zufrieden. Das Original an der Katharinenkirche zu Lübeck habe ich mehrfach gesehen. Danke! Mit freundlichem Gruß
About Ernst Barlach
1870-1938, sculptor, writer, and draughtsman
Ernst Barlach was born on January 2, 1870, in Wedel, Germany, and died on October 24, 1938, in Rostock, Germany. He holds an outstandingly special position within German Expressionism. As a graphic artist, draughtsman, writer, and above all, as a sculptor, Barlach created milestones in art history. Barlach's sculptural works of art have a special effect because they seek extreme experience of limits and their representation. They are works of multi-layered meaning with which he foregrounded the essence of the human being and that what stands above the self and the world.
Barlach's intention is rooted deeply, in the inner self. Shaped by war and challenging living conditions, he experiences both suffering and happiness. And always, at the centre of his work, stands the human being: Ecce homo.
"I desire nothing more than to be an artist, as best I can. I believe that what cannot be expressed through the work can pass into the possession of another through forms. My pleasure and creative impulse continually revolve around the problems of the meaning of life and the other great mountains in the spiritual realm." (Ernst Barlach)
In 1925, Ernst Barlach was made an honorary member of the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. In 1933, he was appointed Knight of the Peace Class of the Order "Pour le Mérite". In 1937, the National Socialists removed his works from public collections and spaces, branding them as "degenerate art." On October 24, 1938, Ernst Barlach died in Rostock.
Today, Ernst Barlach's works are an integral part of leading museums and collections, and - if available - fetch record prices at auction.
"The Singing Man" became Ernst Barlach's best-known sculpture, an icon of Modernism. It adorns illustrated books and posters worldwide, and the original edition is a permanent part of the collections of the world's major museums, including the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York.
An alloy of copper with other metals (especially with tin) used since ancient times. It is an ideal metal for high-quality artistic castings, capable of enduring for millennia.
When casting bronze, the artist usually applies the lost-wax technique which is dating back more than 5000 years. This is the best, but also the most complex method of producing sculptures.
First, the artist forms a model of their work. This model is embedded in a liquid silicone rubber mass. Once the material has solidified, the model is cut out, leaving a negative mould. Liquid wax is then poured into the negative mould. After cooling down, the wax cast is removed from the mould, provided with sprues and dipped into ceramic mass. The ceramic mass is hardened in a kiln, where the wax melts away (lost mould).
Finally, the negative mould is ready, into which the 1400° C hot molten bronze is poured. After the bronze had cooled down, the ceramic shell is broken apart, reavoling the sculpture.
Next, the sprues are removed, the surfaces are polished, patinated and numbered by the artist or by a specialist, following their instructions. Thus, each casting is an original work.
For lower-quality bronze castings, the sand casting method is often used, which, however, does not achieve the results of a more elaborate lost-wax technique in terms of surface characteristics and quality.
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Artistic movement that replaced Impressionism in the early 20th century.
Expressionism is the German form of the art revolution in painting, graphic art and sculpture, with its precursors found in the works of Paul Cézanne, Vincent van Gogh, and Paul Gauguin at the end of the 19th century. The expressionists sought to reach the fundamental elements of painting. Using vibrant, unbroken colours in large areas, emphasising lines, and aiming for suggestive expressiveness, they fought against the artistic taste established by the bourgeoisie.
The most important representatives of Expressionism were the founders of "Die Brücke": Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Erich Heckel, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Max Pechstein, Otto Mueller and Franz Marc, August Macke and others.
Masters of Viennese Expressionism are Egon Schiele and Oskar Kokoschka. Among sculptors, Ernst Barlach is the most famous.
Fauvism is the French form of Expressionism.
Term for an art object (sculpture, installation) that, according to the artist’s intention, is produced in multiple copies within a limited and numbered edition.
Multiples enable the "democratization" of art by making the work accessible and affordable for a wider audience.
A plastic work of sculptural art made of wood, stone, ivory, bronze or other metals.
While sculptures made of wood, ivory, or stone are carved directly from the material block, in bronze casting, a working model is prepared at first. Usually, it is made of clay or other easily mouldable materials.
The prime time of sculpture after the Greek and Roman antiquity was the Renaissance. Impressionism gave a new impulse to the sculptural arts. Contemporary artists such as Jorg Immendorf, Andora, and Markus Lupertz also enriched sculptures with outstanding works.