Ascension c. 1929 - 2004

bronze, sculpture

17_20th-century

3d sculpting

sculpture

bronze

3d character model

frontview face

sculptural image

portrait reference

unrealistic statue

portrait head and shoulder

sculpture

mid-section and head portrait

statue

Otto Freundlich's "Ascension," a bronze sculpture created between 1929 and 2004, is a compelling example of abstract sculpture. The work is characterized by its organic forms, suggestive of both human and natural elements. The sculpture's rough, textured surface adds to its sense of immediacy and raw power. Its fragmented form, with its stacked and layered elements, suggests a process of growth and transformation. "Ascension" is now housed in the Städel Museum, offering viewers an opportunity to engage with this iconic piece of modernist art.

Comments

stadelmuseum over 1 year ago

⋮

Otto Freundlich wanted to take a stand: “I […] fight for the liberation of people and objects from the practices of ownership, and against all that confines them and does not correspond to their true nature.” The title ‘Ascension’ refers to the idea of rising – or uprising – as a social phenomenon, but also to the free development of the mind and spirit. Individual and independent parts have been combined here to form a new whole – a sculpture vaguely reminiscent of an oversize bust. No sculptor before Freundlich attained a comparable degree of abstraction.