© Die Photographische Sammlung / SK Stiftung Kultur – August Sander Archiv, Cologne / ARS, NY
- Bauer beim Kirchgang
- Farmer on his way to church
- from the series Menschen des 20. Jahrhunderts
- from the series People of the 20th Century
Sheet: 9 × 7 3/16 in. (22.9 × 18.3 cm)
Mount: 14 15/16 × 11 1/16 in. (38 × 28.1 cm)
Explore Further
Beginning in the early 1920s, August Sander labored at an
epic project titled People of the
Twentieth Century—a collective portrait of German citizenry covering all
classes and professions from aristocrats to beggars, artists to military men,
farmers to lawyers, and bakers to bankers. Although Sander’s portrait style may
have seemed artless at the time, and might still seem straightforward at first
glance, his pictures were carefully considered, both unflinchingly true to life
and sympathetic. With a curving tilt to his stance, one arm akimbo, and top hat
slightly cocked, this black-clad farmer on his way to a funeral is sharply
silhouetted against softly focused countryside behind him.
The formal simplicity of such pictures and Sander’s
typological approach to his project were highly influential on subsequent
generations of photographers.
ProvenanceEx-collection Volker Kamen; Christie's, New York, October 7, 1993, lot 284.
Bought by Manfred Heiting from Christie's New York, 10/16/1989.
Exhibition History"German Photography 1870–1970 - Power of a Medium," Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Bonn, 1997.
"August Sander: People of the Twentieth Century," Die Photographische Sammlung/SK Stiftung Kultur, Cologne, Germany, September 21–November 18, 2001; Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland, January 19–March 24, 2002; Rupertinum Salzburg, Austria, May 26–July 21, 2002; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, November 29, 2002–February 23, 2003.
"People of the Twentieth Century: August Sander's Photographic Portrait of Germany," Metropolitian Museum of Art, New York, May 24–September 19, 2004.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Inscribed in pencil, recto of mount, lower edge: Bauer auf dem Weg zum Begräbnis
Embossed in a circular pattern, lower left of sheet: AUG. SANDER / LINDENTHAL / KÖLN
Inscribed in pencil, verso, upper right: 15
Inscribed in pencil, verso, bottom center: 12 [with circle]
Cataloguing data may change with further research.
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