Emergency Exits of Marriage, 1923

This rendering by the Karlsruhe-born graphic artist and painter Karl Hubbuch (1891–1979), with the curious title Emergency Exits of Marriage, shows a grotesque, mysterious and odd group of figures, reminiscent of a surreal theater tableau, within a complex spatial structure. Hubbuch placed the people, depicted by him with the delicately pointed, exact strokes of his etching, like archetypes into small groups and into a dialogue with one other. Featuring overlapping temporal planes, he delineated the faults of human relationships and the apparent impossibility of sincere love. Rendered in different poses we can discern reclining female figures, some of them naked, others scantily dressed, trying to ensnare weak-willed men, a striding conservative, middle-class couple, and a man dressed in a suit and hat united in a sensual and passionate kiss with a naked woman. With a keen eye for emphatic details and a palpable zest for narration, Hubbuch unfolded his kaleidoscope of unsparing, caricaturizing stories on bridge-like planks, ramps, stairs and balustrades. The painter is considered one of the most important exponents of New Objectivity in Germany. When the National Socialists seized power in 1933, Hubbuch was deposed of his position of professor at the Academy and until 1947 had to get by doing odd jobs.

MH, 2021