Ernst Barlach

Ernst Barlach was a German expressionist sculptor, medallist, printmaker and writer. He was born in Wedel, Holstein, in 1870 and studied art in Hamburg, Dresden and Paris. He was influenced by the works of Rodin, Maillol and medieval art. He created his first major sculpture, The Herb Plucker, in 1894. He also worked as a teacher at a school for ceramics and as an illustrator for the magazine Jugend. Barlach was initially a supporter of the war in the years leading to World War I, but his participation in the conflict made him change his position. He became a pacifist and expressed his anti-war sentiments in his sculptures, such as The Avenger (1914), The Magdeburg Memorial (1929) and The Floating Angel (1927). His works were characterized by expressive forms, simplified shapes and emotional intensity. He also wrote several plays and novels, such as The Poor Cousin (1919) and The Dead Day (1920). Barlach faced persecution from the Nazi regime, which condemned his works as degenerate art. Many of his sculptures were confiscated and destroyed by the Nazis. He died of heart failure in Rostock in 1938, shortly after his wife Marga passed away. He was buried in Ratzeburg, where his studio and museum are located. Barlach is regarded as one of the most important German sculptors of the 20th century and a representative of modern Gothic style.