Strassenszene

The Berlin artist Werner Heldt could be described as either a Neue Sachlichkeit artist or a member of Arte metafisica. However, he was a loner and never wanted to be associated with either of these movements. His Berlin street scenes of the late 1920s are famous and well known for their austerity and symbolic character. It is not Berlin he is depicting, but rather the anonymous city as an existential place for mankind. As Karl Ruhrberg remarks aptly: "In den hohlen der Fenster wohnt das Grauen, sie sind Chiffren der Leere und der Lautlosigkeit, die auch ber den Strassen und Platzen liegt, die Angst auslst und sprachlos macht wie die saugende Stille der Manichino-bewachten Stadte eines de Chirico oder Carra." (K. Ruhrberg, Exh.cat.Werner Heldt, Berlin, Akademie der Kunste, 1968,p.8)