Gothic Allusions in Ernst Barlach’s Sculptures and the Reception of his Oeuvre
PhD research project by Charlotte Plückhahn, M.A.
In art historical publications of the 20th century, sculptures by expressionist artist Ernst Barlach have continuously been linked to medieval artworks. This practice is related to expressionist theory, by means of which avantgardistic works were associated not only with so-called primitivist art of non-European cultures, but also with the “primitivism” of medieval art. However, it is striking that Barlach’s artworks especially were compared to medieval artefacts, in particular sculptures of the North German area. Based on this observation a central aim of the project is to explore what caused this common attribution. Do Barlach’s artworks exhibit characteristics which particularly lend themselves to comparison with medieval artefacts? Or is this a narrative created by art historians that deviates from the actual reality of the surviving material?
Barlach repeatedly emphasised his connection to the landscape and culture of North Germany and in this context sporadically credited medieval art as inspiration for his work. Therefore, a deciding question revolves around the idea that Barlach himself endorsed an art-historical interpretation which particularly identified North German sculptures of the late Middle Ages as crucial influence for his work and frequently connected it to nationalist implications. At the same time, a multitude of Barlach’s works indeed generate associations to medieval sculptures, although it is mostly not possible to identify concrete templates. Hence, it is all the more important to individually examine to which extent Barlach drew on artistic features of the Middle Ages. This is complicated by the fact that many of his works are an expression of “creative combinatorics” which suggests the artist’s access to different, not only medieval, sources of inspiration.
Through consolidation of contemporary art-historical and art critical discourses, the surviving writings of Barlach and the aesthetics of his works the following questions emerged and shall be answered in the course of this project:
- What is the relationship between interpretations of contemporary art criticism and the aesthetic of Barlach’s productions in reference to alleged medieval allusions?
- To what extent are medieval allusions in Barlach’s works identifiable? Can the Middle Ages be credited as a defining reference point for the artist?
- What understanding of the Middle Ages/Gothic period dominated contemporary art discourses? What understanding of the epoch can be derived from Barlach’s writings?
- Photomontages in art magazines and exhibitions frequently juxtaposed Barlach’s works and medieval artefacts in a comparative manner. What role did these comparative practices play in the formation of the Gothic narrative due to Barlach’s oeuvre?
- In what way did Barlach himself contribute to the formation of a Gothic discourse in reference to his works? Does he perhaps take up the discourse to utilise it productively for his work? Is this evident in the aesthetic of his production?
The approach to this project is an analytical discussion of contemporary art-historical and critical discourses as well as an evaluation of Barlach’s surviving writings. This is to be linked to specific interpretations of Barlach’s work to explore to what extent medieval allusions are actually present in the artist’s work. The aim of the project is to develop a differentiated and critical picture of the medieval narrative with regard to the work of Ernst Barlach and to illuminate it as singular among the common medievalisms of expressionist art theory.