  About the Artwork
  
  
  The Avenger testifies to the enthusiasm with which Ernst Barlach, like many of his artist contemporaries in Germany, welcomed the outbreak of World War I as a catalyst for a new and better future. When the horrors of war unwraveled, Barlach became profoundly disillusioned, and the meaning of the sculpture shifted for him.

Fire sculpted in clay and plaster between September and October 1914, the figure of The Avenger personified the will to action. The artist described it enthusiastically as "the crystalized essence of War." Its lunging horizontal silouette on a slanted base and prismatically stretched robe, the upraised sword, ready to strike, conveyed an unrestrained aggression. After the war, in 1922, Barlach carved a larger version in wood, making subtle alterations to the figure's face, now marked with more ambivalent expression. 

This bronze was issued by Barlach's dealer Alfred Flechtheim in 1930, the first in an intended edition of ten.
  
  
  Title
  The Avenger
  
  
  Artwork Date
  1914, cast 1930
  
  Artist
  Ernst Barlach
  
  
  
  Life Dates
  1870-1938
  
  
  
  
  Nationality
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events.
  Some definitions include:
  Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation.
  
  
  
  German
  
  
  
  Culture
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group.
  
  
  
  
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  Medium
  Bronze
  
  
  Dimensions
  Overall: 17 1/2 × 8 1/2 × 23 1/2 inches (44.5 × 21.6 × 59.7 cm)
  
  
  Classification
  Sculpture
  
  
  Department
  European Modern Art to 1970
  
  
  Credit
  Gift of Mrs. George Kamperman in memory of her husband Dr. George Kamperman
  
  
  
  Accession Number
  
  
  
  This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection.
  Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings.
  For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups.
  
  
  
  64.260
  
  
  Copyright
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