Seated Figure 1919 - 1920

Max Weber’s “Seated Figure” is a small but powerful linocut that encapsulates the artist’s deep engagement with modernism and his Jewish heritage. Weber, an American artist of Polish-Jewish origin, navigated his identity through the lens of early 20th-century social and artistic change. He sought to reconcile avant-garde aesthetics with spiritual and cultural themes, and that search is evident here. This print demonstrates the influence of Cubism and Expressionism, yet the figure emanates an iconic, almost Byzantine, solemnity. The compressed space and angular forms reflect Weber's move toward abstraction. Note, however, how the figure’s hands are gently clasped, as if in contemplation or prayer, conveying an emotional vulnerability that softens the geometric harshness. The figure’s posture suggests both strength and introspection. Weber once wrote, “Art to me is an emotional thing, a thing of spiritual significance”. Ultimately, “Seated Figure” is a meditation on cultural memory, and personal experience, rendered in a modernist visual language.