Breakdown by Ludwig von Hofmann

Art work details

Original Title :

Zusammenbruch

Year of production :

1918

Artist:

Ludwig von Hofmann

Medium :

Oil painting

Materials:

Oil paint, Canvas

Dimensions :

height: 88.9 cms; width: 69.8 cms

Credit Line :

Purchased from the Piccadilly Gallery, London with MGC/V&A Purchase Grant Fund assistance

Copyright :

© ARS, NY and DACS, London 2013.

Tags:

Nudity, Hofmann

This painting, originally titled The Levelling, was originally thought to predate the First World War. However it was re-titled when two woodcuts and a drawing, all dated 1918 and all closely resembling the painting were discovered in the Ludwig von Hoffmann Archive, Zurich.

The drawing bore the inscription Zusammenbruch, which translates as ‘Breakdown’, showing the same naked figures cowering before an unassailable rock face bearing down on them. The painting is now seen as symbolic of the destruction of war.