2832 - Ernst Barlach (1870 Wedel, Holstein – 1938 Güstrow)

Ernst Barlach (1870 Wedel, Holstein – 1938 Güstrow) "The Singing Man." Original title Bronze, brown patina, 1928. Signed; foundry mark "H. NOACK BERLIN." Cat. Schult I, 343; Laur II 0432. From a total edition of approximately 57 copies listed by Laur, including approximately 16 early numbered casts made during the artist’s lifetime from the edition of the Flechtheim Gallery and its successor, the Vömel Gallery (until 1938) and 38 unnumbered copies after 1938 (as well as three copies in zinc). In 1952, Bertolt Brecht wrote in his famous “Notes on the Barlach Exhibition” in the journal “Sinn und Form” (Vol. 4/1952, Issue I, p. 184), he aptly wrote about the figure: “The Singing Man, a bronze from 1928, sings boldly, in a relaxed posture, clearly engaged in his singing. He sings alone, but apparently has an audience. Barlach’s sense of humor dictates that he be a little vain, but no more than is compatible with the practice of art.” The “Singing Man” is not only one of the most beautiful and finest, but also one of the most popular works in Barlach’s oeuvre. Here he succeeded in creating a sculpture that perfectly combines expressiveness with contemplation: It is the figure of a young man sitting slightly reclined in a relaxed posture, completely at peace with himself, singing fervently and joyfully with his eyes closed, both hands placed beneath his raised right knee. In contrast to the block-like quality of most of his figures, Barlach has used sweeping, open, rounded forms here that incorporate the space enclosed by the arms and legs into the overall effect. After the death of Barlach’s gallerist Paul Cassirer in 1926, Alfred Flechtheim took over the curation of his sculptural work. Barlach, who had long created primarily wooden sculptures, began—starting with the “Floating Figure” in Güstrow Cathedral (1927) and the “Spirit Fighter” in Kiel (1928)—encouraged by Flechtheim—he increasingly turned to works that he conceived specifically for casting in bronze. The “Singing Man” was one of the first sculptures that Barlach conceived with full conviction entirely in this material, which was new to him. In 1930, he signed a contract with the Flechtheim Gallery for his first castings, which were executed at the renowned Hermann Noack foundry in Berlin (at the same time, earlier wooden sculptures were also cast in bronze). Among these was the “Singing Man,” which, according to the Flechtheim catalog “Bronzes by Ernst Barlach” (1930), was initially cast by Noack in a limited edition of only 10 copies “under the artist’s supervision.” The “Singing Man” became one of Barlach’s sculptures of phenomenal success. The art magazine “Der Cicerone” stated that it was his “finest achievement” in metal—“the way he sits there, with his eyes closed, gazing upward from the depths of his being.” As early as December 1930, the Danzig Museum acquired a copy from the Flechtheim exhibition, and in the years that followed, demand exceeded the planned edition, resulting in 16 copies being cast by 1938. To this day, “The Singing Man” remains one of the most sought-after sculptures of German Expressionism. H. approx. 49.3 cm; W. 46 cm; D. 42.6 cm. Other bronze copies are held, among others, in the following museums: Museum of Modern Art, New York; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Lyman Allyn Museum, New London, Connecticut, USA; Museum Ludwig, Cologne; Nationalgalerie, Berlin; Barlach-Haus, Hamburg; Ernst Barlach Museums, Güstrow; Collection of Modern Art at the Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich; Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg; Sprengel Museum, Hanover; Kunsthalle Mannheim; Kunsthalle zu Kiel; Museum of Art and Cultural History at Gottorf Castle, Schleswig. See selected bibliography: Catalog “Bronzes by Ernst Barlach,” Alfred Flechtheim Gallery, Berlin and Düsseldorf, November/December 1930, no. 19; “Der Cicerone,” vol. 22/1930, issue 23/24, p. 607; “Omnibus.” A magazine. Special issue: Almanac for the year “1931,” p. 39 (ill.); Carl Einstein: “The Art of the 20th Century,” Propyläen Art History (Vol. 16), Berlin 1931, ill. p. 591, p. 648; “Art and Artists: An Illustrated Monthly Journal for Fine Arts and Applied Arts,” Vol. XXIX/1931, ill. p. 101 (“Exhibition at the A. Flechtheim Gallery. New Acquisitions of the Danzig Art Collections”); “Kunst und Antiquitäten-Rundschau,” Vol. 42, No. 11, November 1934, ill. p. 440 (from the collection of Galerie Vömel, Düsseldorf); Friedrich Schult: “Ernst Barlach. Catalog Raisonné, Volume 1. The Sculptural Work,” Hamburg 1960, no. 343; Elisabeth Laur: “Ernst Barlach. Catalog Rationis Op. II. The Sculptural Work,” published by the Ernst Barlach Foundation, Güstrow 2006, CR No. 0432. Provenance: From the collection of the Barlach family (Barlach Community of Heirs); Acquired in 2017 from Elvie Barlach, Barlach Halle K, Hamburg; since then in a private collection in northern Germany. Brown bronze, 1928. Signed. Foundry stamp “H. NOACK BERLIN.”