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Open 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

Visit
Open today 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Admission is always free

6th and Constitution Ave NW
Washington, DC 20565

Sculpture Garden Extended Hours

Open late until 8:00 p.m. on select nights
Through September 5
Exhibitions & Events
America’s 250th

Celebrating American art and artists
Art & Artists
Open Call

Artists Reimagining the Collection
Meet the 50 makers selected from more than 1,600 submissions

Walpurgisnacht (Walpurgis Night)

1923

Ernst Barlach and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (author)

Associated Names

Ernst Barlach

Artist, German, 1870 - 1938

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Author, German, 1749 - 1832

This is a drawing of a figure entwined with a crescent moon surrounded by gothic text. The image is a black and white woodcut-style depiction featuring a central abstract figure intertwined with a crescent moon. Below the figure is text in an ornate, gothic script, prominently displaying the name "Goethe" and mentioning "Walpurgisnacht" along with other textual elements. The intricate carvings add an antique or mystical feel to the composition.

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Artwork overview

Medium

bound volume with twenty woodcuts
Credit Line

Gift of Faya Causey in memory of Philip Conisbee
Dimensions

overall: 32 × 25 cm (12 5/8 × 9 13/16 in.)
Accession Number

2021.76.2

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(Unrecorded/unknown bookseller, London); Philip Conisbee, Washington, c. 1975; upon his death to his widow, Faya Causey, Washington, 2008; gifted to NGA, 2021

Associated Names

Causey, Faya

Walpurgisnacht (Walpurgis Night)

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