Karl Hartung – ‘Two seated women’, ca. 1931

Early major work between figuration and abstraction – Karl Hartung’s path to modern sculpture

The bronze sculpture ‘Two Seated Women’ by Karl Hartung, created around 1931, is one of the artist’s key early works and already provides a concise preview of his later organic-abstract formal language. Influenced by Bourdelle, Maillol and Despiau in Paris, Hartung began to leave traditional figurative approaches and forge his own compositional paths.

Encounters in everyday life – modern themes in sculpture of the interwar period

The motif of two women doing their hair consciously breaks with classical sculptural themes. Instead of idealised nudes or heroic figures, Hartung shows an intimate scene of calm and closeness – a modern, everyday subject that focuses on the interpersonal connection. The powerful modelled bodies with their clearly defined limbs are compelling due to their structural unity and rhythmically composed surface, which lends the work a sculptural tension between stillness and movement.

A forerunner of abstraction – clear lines, reduced forms, inner dynamics

Formally, the sculpture is characterised by a reduced, abstract design: The block-like legs, the angularly modelled feet and the dynamic play of the hands create a rhythmic, harmonious composition. The focus is on volume, balance and intermediate space, moving Hartung away from purely naturalistic representation – an indication of the upcoming influence of Brâncuși, Hans Arp and Henri Laurens, who were to have a decisive influence on his later work.

Estate cast with museum quality – a rare example of early Hartung sculptures

This bronze figure with an estate stamp was cast after the artist’s death as part of his estate and documents an important turning point in Karl Hartung’s oeuvre. It combines classical-figurative elements with the striving for reduction and expressiveness that characterised him as one of the pioneers of modern German post-war sculpture.