Wandering Death

1923

Ernst Barlach

Associated Names
Ernst Barlach

Artist, German, 1870 - 1938

The image shows a skeletal figure in full-body profile, walking to the right with an arched back while holding a long stick. The figure has a head turned slightly towards the viewer, featuring pronounced eye sockets and a toothy grin. It is wearing a large, flowing draped garment that appears tattered, exposing its ribcage and bony limbs. The feet are skeletal, and the legs are bent as if stepping over an uneven surface. The background is indicated by flowing lines suggestive of wind or movement.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    lithograph on Japanese paper

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Ruth Cole Kainen

  • Dimensions

    sheet: 34.5 × 41 cm (13 9/16 × 16 1/8 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2012.92.157

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Schult 1958, no. 225, State only

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(Martin Sumers Graphics, New York); Ruth Kainen, Washington, D.C., purchased March 5, 1983; Gift to NGA, 2012.

Associated Names

Bibliography

1958

  • Schult, Friedrich. Ernst Barlach, das graphische Werke. Hamburg: Dr. Ernst Hauswedell & Co., 1958: no. 225, only

Inscriptions

signed below image, at right, in graphite: EBarlach; at bottom left, in graphite, by later hand: S225

Wikidata ID

Q76556242

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