The Man with the Knife, 1926

Placed slightly askew into the portrait format and framed by an outline, the sculptor and graphic artist Ernst Barlach (1870–1938) depicted an archetypal figure in this lithograph: Only the distinctive, rather coarse face, rendered in profile, and a hand clutching a pointed dagger, appear from underneath the cohesive shape of the cloak. As if about to commit a crime, perhaps a politically motivated murder, he is leaning forward and lying in wait. The figure, cast into the soft lines of the lithograph, conveys a sense of timelessness. Outlined against the fabric of the gown, we can discern the arms and a fist concealed by the cloth, which looks as if it harbored the solidified figure’s true secret. The slightly angular-naive characteristics and the clear lines carried by curves reveal Barlach’s singular form language, which is also inherent in his sculptures.

MH, 2023