Der singende Mann

Details

Ernst Barlach (1870-1938)
Der singende Mann
with the artist's signature 'E. BARLACH' (on the side) and the foundry mark 'H. NOAK BERLIN FRIEDENAU' (at the back)
bronze with a light gold patina
19½in. (49.5cm.) high
Conceived in 1928 and cast in the artist's lifetime circa 1930

Provenance

Purchased from the Artist's secretary in 1935.
Harry Maskell, London.
Anon. sale, Sotheby's, London, 23 October 1963, lot 85, where acquired by Mr Norton Simon, Los Angeles, California, and thence by descent.

Literature

C. D. Carls, Barlach. Das plastische, graphische und dichterische Werk, Berlin, 1931, (another cast illustrated fig. 49).
A. H. Barr, Omnibus, "German Sculpture", Berlin & Düsseldorf, 1932, pp. 38-42 (another cast illustrated fig. 53).
M. Devigne, Les Beaux-Arts, "Ernst Barlach", Brussels, 1935, p. 14 (another cast illustrated; incorrectly titled Femme chantant).
E. Barlach, Ein Selbsterzähltes Leben, Munich, 1948 (another cast illustrated pl. 69).
F. Schult, Ernst Barlach, Potsdam, 1950 (another cast illustrated pl. 40).
W. Gielow, Ernst Barlach. Katalog der Plastik, Munich, 1954, no. 252 b.
P. Fechter, Ernst Barlach, Gütersloh, 1957 (another cast illustrated pl. 35).
W. Stubbe & F. Hewicker, Ernst Barlach Plastik, Munich, 1959 (another cast illustrated pl. 68-9).
F. Schult, Ernst Barlach. Das Plastische Werk, Hamburg, 1960, no. 343 (another cast illustrated p. 191).
C. Carls, Ernst Barlach. Das plastische, graphische und dichterische Werk, Berlin, 1968, no. 88 (another cast illustrated p. 88).
R. Löwit, Ernst Barlach. Das Wirkliche und Wahrhaftige, Wiesbaden, 1970 (another cast illustrated on the front cover and p. 159).
E. A. Seemann, Ernst Barlach. Plastische Meisterwerke, Leipzig, 1996, p. 116 (another cast illustrated in colour on the cover and p. 117).

Exhibited

New York, Marlborough-Gerson Gallery Inc., Ernst Barlach - Käthe Kollwitz, September-October 1968, no. 19 (illustrated p. 47 and back cover).

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

Formerly in the Norton Simon Museum's celebrated collection of Expressionist Art, Der singende Mann, is an outstanding bronze sculpture that was part of the original set of casts commissioned by Alfred Flechtheim in 1930. Originally the edition was not to exceed ten casts, however, fifteen casts are recorded, of which two were made in zinc. The present work is one of only three bronze casts still in private hands. Among the museums holding casts of this edition are the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Nationalgalerie, Berlin; the Cleveland Museum of Art (Hinman B. Hurlbut Collection), Cleveland, Ohio; the Museum am Ostwall, Dortmund; the Kunsthalle, Kiel and the Kunsthalle, Mannheim.

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