On View
Not on viewObject number1966/7.83
The First Day
Artist
Ernst Barlach
(German, 1870-1938)
Date1920
Mediumwoodcut
Dimensionsframe: 19 1/2 × 23 1/2 × 1 3/8 in. (49.5 × 59.7 × 3.5 cm)
image: 10 in. × 14 1/8 in. (25.4 × 35.9 cm)
image: 10 in. × 14 1/8 in. (25.4 × 35.9 cm)
Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. Donald S. Gilmore
Exhibition History"German Expressionist Art in Western Michigan Collections," KIA traveling exhibition (Mar. 1 - July 1, 1979).
"German Expessionists from the KIA Permanent Colletion," Saginaw Art Museum (Oct. 10 - Nov. 1, 1996).
"Masterworks from the KIA Permanent Collection," Dennos Museum Center (Mar.1997 - Feb. 1998); Midland Center for the Arts (Apr. - July 1998).
Label TextErnst Barlach completed this drawing during his brief military service (1915-16). The thresher represents Germany’s revered World War I military commander, Paul von Hindenburg, whose victories on the Eastern Front made him a national hero and an icon of German strength and honor. Hindenburg’s strong arms and massive hands are cutting down Germany’s enemy, the Russians, rather than wheat. Through his confident and gestural line, the artist depicts Hindenburg as a solid and powerful leader.
Barlach is better known for his sculpture than his graphic art. In the 1930s, the Nazis branded Barlach’s art “degenerate” and by the time of his death, almost 400 pieces of his art had been removed from German museums and some had been destroyed.
