Kneeling Woman, 1911/Bronze casting 1925

The figure of the Kneeling Woman by the German sculptor Wilhelm Lehmbruck (1881–1919) is larger than life and exceptionally slim. It was created in Paris in 1911 and marked a radical break with the proportions of classic antiquity in the artist’s oeuvre. The elongated shapes, the upright body posture, the fact that one arm is bent and one extended, which suggests movement, and the instability of the kneeling position represented a surge of innovation in Lehmbruck’s sculptures that would come to foreshadow and influence later developments. Simultaneously, the lowered gaze and the humbly inclined head introduce a stylistic idiom aimed at revealing mental and psychological processes in a human subject through gestures and mimics. The Kneeling Woman was presented in New York, Chicago and Boston as part of the Armory Show in 1913, winning the German sculptor international renown. The work is therefore considered not only Lehmbruck’s most significant sculpture, but a prime example and prototype of Expressionist sculpture.

AK, 2021