Wilhelm Lehmbruck

Born Jan. 4, 1881, in Duisburg; died Mar. 25, 1919, in Berlin. German sculptor.

Lehmbruck studied at the Düsseldorf Academy of Arts between 1901 and 1907. He worked in Berlin, Paris, and Zürich. His early works reveal the influence of A. Maillol and are distinguished by pure plastic beauty and balanced structure (Standing Woman, artificial stone, 1910–11, National Gallery, Berlin). Between 1910 and 1919, having adopted expressionism, Lehmbruck, with the aid of conventional elongation, sought to impart to the figures a special spirituality (Youth Ascending, stone, 1913, Museum of Modern Art, New York). The work The Fallen (stone, 1915–16, Frau Lehmbruck Collection, Tübingen) reflects the tragedy of World War I (1914–18). Lehmbruck committed suicide.