a quiet mood but still possess a compelling emotional sensibility.
Lehmbruck studied sculpture, painting, and the graphic arts in
Düsseldorf before moving to Paris in 1910, where he developed the
style of his Seated Youth (FIG. 35-10). His sculpture combines the ex-
pressive qualities he much admired in the work of fellow sculptors,especially the psychological energies of Rodin (FIGS. 31-32and 31-
33 ). In Seated Youth,the poignant elongation of human proportions,
the slumped shoulders, and the hands that hang uselessly all impart an
undertone of anguish to the rather classical figure. Lehmbruck’s figure
communicates by pose and gesture alone. Although its extreme pro-
portions may recall Mannerist attenuation
(FIG. 22-43), its distortions announce a new
freedom in interpreting the human figure. For
Lehmbruck, as for Rodin, the human figure
could express every human condition and
emotion. The quiet, contemplative nature of
this sculpture serves both as a personal ex-
pression of Lehmbruck’s increasing depres-
sion and as a powerful characterization of the
general sensibility in the wake of World War I.
Appropriately, the original title ofSeated
Youth was The Friend,in reference to the
artist’s many friends who lost their lives in the
war. After Lehmbruck’s tragic suicide in 1919,
officials placed this sculpture as a memorial in
the soldiers’ cemetery in Lehmbruck’s native
city of Duisburg.35-9Käthe Kollwitz,Woman with Dead
Child,1903. Etching and soft-ground etching,
overprinted lithographically with a gold tone
plate, 1 45 – 8 1 7 –^18 . British Museum,
London.
The theme of the mother mourning over her
dead child comes from images of the Pietàin
Christian art, but Kollwitz transformed it into a
powerful universal statement of maternal loss
and grief.35-10Wilhelm Lehmbruck,Seated Youth,- Composite tinted plaster, 3 45 – 8 2 6
3 9 . National Gallery of Art, Washington,
D.C. (Andrew W. Mellon Fund).
The poignant elongation of human propor-
tions, the slumped shoulders, and the hands
that hang uselessly all impart an undertone of
anguish to Lehmbruck’s rather classical figure.
Europe, 1900 to 1920 9171 in.
1 ft.35-10ASCHIELE,
Self-Portrait,
Grimacing,1910.