Wilhelm Lehmbruck: Stürmender Mann / Storming Male Figure
360° View
This small-scale freestanding sculpture in the round bears the rough marks and indentations of the hand of the artist in the uneven surfaces of the cast stone. The stylized nude male figure, anchored to the earth on powerful, elongated legs, reaches upward toward the heavens and gestures with clenched fists in anguish and pain. Reaching back in an active and open pose, the arms flail in frustration above the figure’s small head, a feature that appears out of proportion to the rest of the body. Hand painted a dark brown, the colour and size of the sculpture suggest the tradition of a bronze statuette. Completed during the first years of the war, this sculpture is thought to be a reaction against the horror of the war, experienced first hand by the artist who worked as a medic. Prior to the outbreak of war, Lehmbruck had achieved substantial success as a sculptor and was noted for his use of the human figure rather than abstract shapes to represent universal emotions and ideas. Many of his successful Expressionist sculptures focused on the female body, however the artist shifted his focus to the male figure during the war. In this sculpture, Lehmbruck masterfully exploits the symbolic value of the human figure to express, on an intimate and intensely personal scale, a sense of helplessness and rage in the midst of the conflict.
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View this sculpture in the gallery
Stiftung Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum
Karl Horst Hödicke
Stadt Landschaft/City Landscape (1988)
The modern reality of a divided city is the subject of this oil painting by German Neo- Expressionist Karl Hödicke. The view is taken from a vantage point overlooking the Berlin Wall from West Berlin, with the towering concrete structures of East Berlin in the background. The loose and gestural application of paint mimics the graffiti-painted surface of the wall, a popular site for protests and political statements during the decades of the Cold War. Splotches of white and grey paint suggest the bright glare of street lights that illuminate the area at night and large black birds, perhaps crows, menace the otherwise deserted space. These birds, perched on lampposts and ledges or circling overhead, pass freely from east to west, an activity denied to humans at the time.
The Berlin Wall was put in place in 1961 and built up over several years to separate the Soviet- occupied sector of Berlin from the rest of the city. East German citizens were not permitted to leave, although many attempted to escape either by climbing over or tunneling under the Wall. In 1989, one year after this painting was completed, travel restrictions between east and west were lifted and the Wall was gradually dismantled.
English
In the second video presentation for the McMaster-Goethe Project, Dr. Steffi Retzlaff, Assistant Professor of German at McMaster University, and McMaster University students Indira Mrkaljevic, Stefan Schneider, and Andreas Waglechner engage in a critical analysis of the painting Stadt Landschaft/City Landscape (1988) by Karl Horst Hödicke (German 1938- ). Professor Retzlaff leads the discussion focusing on the political and historical significance of the imagery. Hödicke's Neo-Expressionistic view of Berlin in 1988 captures a dramatic moment in time. The Berlin Wall looms large in the distance. Have a look!
Dr. Steffi Retzlaff is an Assistant Professor of German in the Department of Linguistics and Languages at McMaster University. Her major areas of research include German and English Linguistics, Critical Discourse Analysis, the dialectics of language, culture and society, racism, stereotyping and identity (re-)presentations in various cultures and contexts.
We would like to thank Dan Zen, Professor and Coordinator for Sheridan Interactive Multimedia for his contribution to this project, video taping and editing each of the videos.
Deutsch
In der zweiten Videopräsentation des McMaster-Goethe Projektes setzen sich Dr. Steffi Retzlaff – Professorin für Deutsch an der McMaster Universität – und die McMaster Studenten Indira Mrkaljevic, Stefan Schneider und Andreas Waglechner kritisch mit dem Gemälde „Stadt Landschaft / City Landscape“ (1988) von Karl Horst Hödicke (Deutschland 1938- ) auseinander. Dr. Retzlaff leitet die Diskussion mit dem Schwerpunkt auf die politische und historische Bedeutung der Symbolik. Hödickes neu-expressionistischer Blick auf Berlin im Jahre 1988 erfasst einen einschneidenden Moment der Zeit. Die Berliner Mauer ist im Hintergrund deutlich zu erkennen. Schauen Sie selbst.
Dr. Steffi Retzlaff ist Professorin für Deutsch in der Abteilung für Linguistik und Sprache der McMaster Universität. Ihre Forschungsgebiete sind hauptsächlich deutsche und englische Linguistik, kritische Diskursanalyse, die Dialektik von Sprache, Kultur und Gesellschaft, Rassismus sowie die Erscheinungsformen von Stereotypen und Identitäten in den verschiedenen Kulturen und Kontexten.
Hiermit möchten wir uns bei Dan Zen, dem Professor und Koordinator von Sheridan Interactive Multimedia für seinen Beitrag zu diesem Projekt bedanken, der aus den Videoaufnahmen und –bearbeitungen bestand.