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Ernst Barlach
 
1870-1938
Ernst Barlach, a predecessor to and contemporary of the German Expressionists, is difficult to classify. In part because he worked chiefly in the mediums of printmaking and sculpture, he did not achieve the widespread renown of painters such as Kandinsky or Kirchner. Nevertheless, due to his multitude of talents, Barlach was an extremely influential artist. Like many in the Expressionist movement, he was interested in creating "total artworks" that united disciplines to explore the human condition from various perspectives. He was also a writer, who produced a number of print portfolios illustrating literary works by himself and others. He was one of the artists who pioneered the woodcut revival that was to have a profound impact on his slightly younger Expressionist colleagues, as well as on Käthe Kollwitz.
Born in Wedel, Barlach was both an artist and a dramatist. He took up the formal study of art in Hamburg in 1888, and received training as well in Paris, Dresden and Berlin. His earliest works were influenced by Art Nouveau, but a 1906 trip to Russia helped turn him in the direction of Expressionism. Hereafter, he often depicted Russian beggars and farmers, who symbolized the difficulty of human existence. In 1907 Barlach signed a contract with Galerie Cassirer in Berlin, and in 1912 a group of twenty of his woodcuts was shown there. That same year his first play was published. Though Barlach initially supported Germany's position during the First World War and served two months in the infantry, he returned home to create memorial sculptures and prints imbued with anti-war sentiment. During the Weimar period, Barlach's work was well received by the German public. In 1930 he was given a retrospective at the Prussian Academy of Art and participated in the Venice Biennale. Despite the fact he was basically apolitical, Barlach suffered under National Socialism. He was denounced for his negative images of the human condition and accused of being "alien" and "Eastern;" rumors abounded that he was Jewish. In 1932 thugs broke his windows, and in 1933 his mail was censored and he was forced to give up the home he had built. By 1935-36 his works had been removed from the major German museums and he was forbidden to exhibit; nonetheless Barlach remained in Germany. His pacifist themes and depictions of people assumed to be of an inferior race caused him to be included in the "Degenerate Art" exhibition of 1937. Soon thereafter, Barlach fell ill. He died a year later, in October 1938.
2nd of January 1870 Ernst Heinrich Barlach is born in Wedel (Holstein), Germany.
1872 Barlachs family moves to Schönberg (Mecklenburg).
1884 Death of his father.
1891 to 1896 Barlach studies sculpture at the Königliche Akademie der bildenden Künste in Dresden, Germany.
1895 to 1896 Scholarship in Paris. Afterwards he moves to Friedrichroda (Thüringen).
1897 to 1899 Second stay in Paris. Afterwards Barlach travels to Hamburg, where he sculpts the famous "Giebelrelief" of the city hall of Altona.
1899 to 1905 Barlach works both as a sculptor and as a teacher.
1905 Moves to Berlin.
1906 Travels in Russia. After a strong personal crisis and a crisis as an artists he jumpstarts his career as an artist again.
1907 Barlach takes part in the exhibition of the "Berliner Secession". He gets to know the art dealer Cassirer, who starts to to show his work in his gallery.
1909 Travels in Italy, where he meets a lot of different artists from differing art genres.
1910 Barlach moves to Güstrow (Mecklenburg)
1912 Barlach finishes his first drama entitled "Der tote Tag" (The dead day).
1913 Travels in the state of Mecklenburg with Theodor Däubler. Finishes his novel "Seespeck". Barlach starts to work at the "Güstrower Fragmente".
1914 to 1917 Soldier and aider in a day nursery in Güstrow.
1918 Sociocritical silhouettes issuing the misery caused by the first world war. Finishes his drama "Der arme Vetter" (The poor cousin).
1919 Barlach becomes a member of the "Preußische Akademie der Künste" (prussian academy of the arts) in Berlin.
1920 Finishes his drama "Die echten Sedemunds" (The real Sedemunds).
1921 Stays in Kiel, where he works at the memorial for the dead soldiers at the Nikolaikirche (Nikolai church).
1922 Finishes the monument "Schmerzensmutter" (Suffering mother) at the Nikolai church, lithographies "Die Ausgestoßenen" (The outcast), wood cuts "Die Wandlungen Gottes" (The metamorphosis of god), drama "Der Findling" (the foundling).
1924 Gets to know the couple Bernhard and Marga Böhmer.
1926 Visits Bernhard and Marga Böhmer for several times in Güstrow.
1927 Writes his autobiography "Ein Selbsterzähltes Leben", finishes the "Denkmal für die Gefallenen" (monument for the dead soldiers) in Güstrow.
1928 The "Kieler Mal" at the Universitätskirche (university church) in Kiel is set up.
1931 His sculptures get exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Barlach shares a flat with Marga Böhmer.
1933 to 1938 Some of his works get removed by the national socialists. Barlach is now considered as "entartet" (degenerate).
24th of October 1938 Ernst Barlach dies in the St. Georg's hospital in Rostock.
works by Ernst Barlach
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