The Damned

1798/1800

Carl Wilhelm Kolbe

Associated Names
Carl Wilhelm Kolbe

Artist, German, 1759 - 1835

This is a drawing of multiple nude figures in a chaotic scene. The composition shows figures in dynamic poses against a stormy background. One figure appears to be carrying or dragging another, while various limbs and torsos are intertwined. Some figures reach upwards with outstretched arms. Dark clouds and hints of lightning add to the intense atmosphere. The overall tone is dark and foreboding, evoking a sense of struggle or battle.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    etching and aquatint on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Ruth Cole Kainen

  • Dimensions

    sheet: 41.1 x 32.3 cm (16 3/16 x 12 11/16 in.) (trimmed within plate mark)

  • Accession Number

    2012.92.334

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Martens 1976, no. 37, State iii/iv

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Count Giuseppe Archinto [1783-1861], Milan (Lugt 52). (Christopher Mendez, London); Ruth Kainen, Washington, D.C., purchased March 13, 1998; Gift to NGA, 2012.

Associated Names

Bibliography

1920

  • Jentsch, Ernst. "Der Radierer Carl Wilhelm Kolbe, 1757 Berlin-1835 Dessau." Unpublished dissertation. Breslau, 1920: no. 241.

1976

  • Martens, Ulf. Der Zeichner und Radierer C. W. Kolbe. Berlin, 1976: no. 37, iii/iv.

Inscriptions

recto: in plate, at bottom center: indecipherable

Wikidata ID

Q76556656

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