Poverty 1922

Editor: Here we have Ernst Barlach's stone lithograph, "Poverty." There's something strikingly raw about the figures. What do you see in this piece, considering its composition and materiality? Curator: The stark lines and unadorned forms immediately command attention. Barlach's emphasis on line and form strips away the superfluous, directing us toward the essential qualities of the figures themselves. The composition invites a semiotic reading. Editor: Semiotic reading? Curator: Consider the figures' posture and placement; these signs convey vulnerability and destitution. The artist's decision to render them in stone further emphasizes the unyielding nature of their suffering. What do you make of the textures? Editor: I noticed the rough texture of the stone seems to amplify the gauntness and the figures' worn features. I see the figures mirroring and contrasting each other simultaneously. Curator: Precisely. The artist is clearly making use of the intrinsic qualities of the materials to underline his message. Editor: I now see how the form of the work so powerfully reinforces its content.