Saturday, August 12, 2006

Kurt Schmid-Ehmen




Another family has put it's distinguished 20th C. sculptor up on the internet -- and what a thrill it is to see them all!



Until today, the pieces (Country,Honor,Victory) in the picture above was all I could find -- posted about 5 years ago on a Neo-Nazi site (with red type on black backgrounds -- very creepy)



But now there's the above --

And especially fascinating -- the following sets of pieces done over the course of the sculptor's life:

1928



































1930

There's the two pre-Reich era lovers -- of 1928 and 1930 -- and wow ! the one from 1930 really seems to connect to the mystery that pulls people together in the night. .



















But then there's the 1942 version -- very spooky -- doesn't this eroticism belong in a cemetery ?









And even more fascinating -- at least for me -- are the follow three versions of the same pose -- done in 1930 -- 1942 -- and 1959:





1930
1942


1959


Isn't this the history of the German people from 1920 - 1960 ? What fascinates me is how this story is told by the subtle distinctions of drawing -- and I really feel this sculptor has been a spiritual blotter -- soaking up the geist of his times -- and sending it back through his eye and hands.

I'm not saying this is necessarily a good thing -- but it seems to be the thing that happened here.

BTW -- the family's website is here. - and no, the biography they present has very little to say about the period from 1931-1945.

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