The Dead Man. Woman Grieving over her Dead Husband 1939 - 1941

Svend Rathsack made this sculpture, The Dead Man. Woman Grieving over her Dead Husband, but it is difficult to know exactly when, or with what. The surface is uniformly rough, like he wanted us to feel the laborious, process-oriented aspects of its creation. The texture is so dominant, that it becomes a kind of language in itself. It reminds me that artmaking is a physical act. I can imagine Rathsack chipping away at the stone, each mark a testament to his focused effort. Notice how the woman's body is smoothed out, whereas the 'skirt' has more texture. What does this juxtaposition suggest? The prone body of the dead man almost disappears into the base, while her body is upright, reaching upwards. The unrelenting monochrome lets the forms speak for themselves and invites us to bring our own emotions to the piece, to consider grief, loss and the ways they reverberate, physically and emotionally. This feels like a dialogue with Rodin, or perhaps Wilhelm Lehmbruck, artists who used similar materials to explore the depths of human emotion. What do you think?