Rape II (Raub II, Weib halb)
Medium
drypoint
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1945.5.85
Art Historical Context
**Rape II (Raub II, Weib halb)**, created by German Expressionist Wilhelm Lehmbruck in 1, is a poignant drypoint print from the Gallery of Art's Rosenwald Collection. Lehmbruck, renowned for elongated, emotive sculptures that convey spiritual anguish, turned to printmaking during this period to explore raw human suffering. The title, translating to "Rape II (Plunder II, Woman Half)," suggests a fragmented female figure amid themes of violence and violation—hallmarks of early 20th-century Expressionism, which rejected naturalism for distorted forms expressing inner turmoil. Drypoint, Lehmbruck...
About the Artist
Wilhelm Lehmbruck
Wilhelm Lehmbruck (1881–1919) was a German sculptor whose elongated, melancholic figures rank among the most moving works produced by European Expressionism. Born in Duisburg-Meiderich into a working-class family, Lehmbruck studied at the School of Arts and Crafts in Düsseldorf and later at the Düsseldorf Academy, where he mastered the academic tradition before pushing beyond it toward a more pers...