Proclamation Possibly 1923 - 1924

Georg Kolbe's bronze sculpture, Proclamation, stands here at the Städel Museum, a figure caught mid-gesture. Can you see it too? I imagine Kolbe working on this piece, maybe outside, wrestling with the bronze, trying to capture not just a likeness, but an essence. Look at the surface—it's not smooth, is it? Instead, there's a deliberate roughness. The light catches the bronze's subtle texture. The figure reaches outward with an open palm, as if addressing an unseen audience. Is this a call to action or a gesture of peace? Or both. Kolbe was working at a time of huge political and social change, and I wonder if he saw the artist as a kind of herald, someone who could use form to speak truth to power. It's a bold statement, this sculpture, and a reminder that art can be a powerful form of embodied expression. It offers us a way of seeing and experiencing the world, even when answers remain ambiguous.