Thronoi

Karl Hartung worked long and hard on the sculpture Thronoi, which is considered a major work in his oeuvre, since it concentrates and condenses his artistic approaches. It is clear that the artist was inspired by Wilhelm Lehmbruck’s work, particularly the sculpture Sitzender Jüngling/ Seated Young Man from 1916/17. The artist’s development from his own past works, such as the Großer Sitzender / Large Seated Figure from 1951/62, can also be seen here. Like many artists at the time, Karl Hartung’s work became increasingly abstract after WWII. However, rather than developing a geometric formal language, his work appeared more organic. Rough, craggy surfaces draw associations to earth and branches. Thronoi, with its black patina, seems to consist entirely of charred and singed branches and roots that have grown into a figure. The throne and figure merge into a single, permeable form that nonetheless dominates the space. Monumental and majestic, it seems to personify the unnamable dread that is concentrated in its hollow eye sockets as they stare into the nothingness.

Further reading:
StadtKunstFührer: Skulpturen im Duisburger Stadtraum, ed. by the Stiftung Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg 2012, pp. 20-21.