An interesting essay! I found Däubler's Der neue Standpunkt (Dresden: Hellerauer Verlag, 1916) on Archive.org and took a stab at the passage mentioned in the footnotes. My translation, from pp. 187-188:
"His [Wilhelm Lehmbruck's] kneeling figure is the prelude to Expressionism in sculpture. It is no longer a prayer, but a devotion, a belief in the vertical that must come to pass. If this woman were to rise, this kneeling figure, she would be a grotesque wraith: yet she will rise one day, sweeping us along with her. Or leaving us behind. But our dreams, which she has stirred up, will continue to haunt us. For the time being, the Kneeling Woman is our folded vertical line."
Thanks for this nice essay; I was not yet familiar with Lehmbruck. Would you put August Macke on the same list as Franz Marc in terms of what he might have been, had he not been killed in the war? Both were big losses, but we are lucky to have many of their works still in museums.
Reading this, I kept thinking, “this all seems familiar,” before realising I’d heard you on ‘Start the Week,’ John-Paul, and enjoyed that introduction to you and the book. The legacy of the “degenerate art” exhibition is extraordinary, and a timely reminder that when art is demonised, it’s often because it still has power.
An interesting essay! I found Däubler's Der neue Standpunkt (Dresden: Hellerauer Verlag, 1916) on Archive.org and took a stab at the passage mentioned in the footnotes. My translation, from pp. 187-188:
"His [Wilhelm Lehmbruck's] kneeling figure is the prelude to Expressionism in sculpture. It is no longer a prayer, but a devotion, a belief in the vertical that must come to pass. If this woman were to rise, this kneeling figure, she would be a grotesque wraith: yet she will rise one day, sweeping us along with her. Or leaving us behind. But our dreams, which she has stirred up, will continue to haunt us. For the time being, the Kneeling Woman is our folded vertical line."
Really interesting to read - the idea that if she stood up, she would be grotesquely tall, and that her mystery lies in her 'folded' quality.
Thanks for this nice essay; I was not yet familiar with Lehmbruck. Would you put August Macke on the same list as Franz Marc in terms of what he might have been, had he not been killed in the war? Both were big losses, but we are lucky to have many of their works still in museums.
Macke is up there, but somehow Marc was in a different league, for me at least, for his vision of painting the world as seen by an animal.
Reading this, I kept thinking, “this all seems familiar,” before realising I’d heard you on ‘Start the Week,’ John-Paul, and enjoyed that introduction to you and the book. The legacy of the “degenerate art” exhibition is extraordinary, and a timely reminder that when art is demonised, it’s often because it still has power.
Thank you Michael that is good to hear, and you are absolutely right about the power of demonised art. This was the idea behind the book.
Wonderful post.
Thank you for telling us about this remarkable sculptor