Barlach, Ernst

(born Jan. 2, 1870, Wedel, Ger.—died Oct. 24, 1938, Güstrow) German sculptor, graphic artist, and writer. After studying in Hamburg, Dresden, and Paris, he became the outstanding sculptor of the Expressionist movement, achieving a rough-hewn quality by preferring wood, the material used in late Gothic sculpture. Even when he worked with other, more contemporary materials, he often emulated the raw quality of wood sculpture to achieve a more brutal effect. He achieved fame in the 1920s and '30s with the execution of several war memorials for the Weimar Republic. Barlach also wrote Expressionist plays, which he illustrated with woodcuts and lithographs. His studio at Güstrow was opened posthumously as a museum.

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