Shepherd in a Storm

With his head lowered and his hat pulled down over his face, the shepherd fights against the wind, which might be interpreted as the adversities of life. The dog follows him, close at his heels, looking for protection. Ernst Barlach carved the cloaked figure from soft limewood, not from a single block, but rather from several pieces of wood, which he combined compactly and covered with fine gouge traces. The softly curving contours enliven the main view of the voluminous sculpture, which forms a triangle. Shepherd in a Storm was Barlach’s first wooden work of art to be executed in a large format. It was produced in 1908, entering the collection of the Kunsthalle Bremen by the following year, as a donation of the Bremen painter and patron Leopold Biermann. This acquisition was the first work by Barlach ever to belong to a public art collection. In addition to 18 sculptures and reliefs as well as 10 drawings, the Kunsthalle Bremen owns nearly all Barlach’s prints. It owes its rich Barlach collection to the Berliner Kurt Reutti (1900–1967) and his wife, Dore.