Three Figures 1913

Curator: Here we have Ernst Barlach's 1913 pencil drawing, "Three Figures." Editor: It's incredibly stark. The heavy shading gives the figures a monumental weight, despite the apparent fragility of the lines. Curator: Barlach created this work within the context of pre-war anxieties. He was deeply invested in depicting the social realities and emotional experiences of the common person. Editor: The figures definitely convey a sense of weariness. The lines around the woman’s eyes, the stooped posture of the central figure… It communicates a difficult life, etched right into their bodies through line and shadow. I almost feel like the drawing is less representational, and more...gestural in its quality of portraying deep-set despair. Curator: I agree. This period of his work focused intently on rural laborers and the poor. Barlach often used art as a vehicle for social critique. He sought to expose the struggles of those marginalized by the burgeoning industrial society of the time. Editor: What's also interesting to me is how their clothes hang on their bodies –shapeless, almost like sacks, obscuring rather than revealing the human form. I wonder if it signifies how society or some external force has stripped them of their identity? Curator: Absolutely. The clothes, rendered in dense strokes, further emphasize their hardship, mirroring their weighty burden in society, and arguably the social constraints which they would have felt acutely. Editor: It's a very powerful piece in its simplicity. The somber mood created purely with line, tone and these almost severe forms stays with you. Curator: Barlach’s focused attention on portraying everyday struggles offers an intimate glimpse into pre-war German society. A period filled with hardship, which Barlach manages to reflect in what at first, can appear, a rather simple drawing.