Gerhard Marcks

Alongside Ernst Barlach, Georg Kolbe and Wilhelm Lehmbruck, Gerhard Marcks is considered one of the leading German sculptors of the 20th century. In 1920, he was in charge of the Bauhaus pottery. As he was friends with Lyonel Feininger, Marcks also created a number of woodcuts, but bronze became his preferred material. His most important works, such as the 'Venus of Thuringia' from 1930, reflect his characteristic style: he sculpted his figures in bold, reduced forms and a sensual, archaically harsh naturalness. Marcks did not leave Germany during World War II, although he was harassed out of his teaching position and 24 of his sculptures were confiscated as 'degenerate' in 1937. Almost his entire oeuvre was destroyed in 1943, when his Berlin studio was hit by a bomb. Works that he had hidden were looted and destroyed. After the war, he relentlessly started all over again and created, among other works, monumental sculptures for public places in Cologne, Hamburg, Mannheim and Frankfurt.