Ernst Barlach and the Conservative Revolution

This article examines the relationship between the artist Ernst Barlach and the so-called conservative revolution, an overlooked aspect of his life and career. Of particular interest are Barlach’s friendship with Arthur Moeller van den Bruck, an antiacademic and antibourgeois writer who became a leading political thinker on the right, and an important essay on Barlach published in 1935 by the prominent “young conservative” art critic Paul Fechter. Though Barlach was never politically engaged, the article suggests the degree to which his work and career were shaped by, and appealed to, such intellectuals.