A Mighty Fortress Is Our God (Eine feste Burg ist unser Gott), illustration #29 from Timotheus Klein’s Martin Luther (Berlin: Fritz Gurlitt Verlag, 1920-21)
Lovis Corinth
Description
Oskar Kokoschka
Austria, 1886–1980
The Pleading (Die Flehende)
1914
Lithograph
Gift of the Ernst Pulgram and Frances McSparran Collection, 2007/2.121
Alfred Kubin
Austria, 1887–1959
The Bremen Town Musicians (Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten)
1940
Graphite on paper
Gift of the Ernst Pulgram and Frances McSparran Collection, 2007/2.118
Lovis Corinth
Germany, 1858–1925
A Mighty Fortress Is Our God (Eine feste Burg ist unser Gott)
1920
Ink on paper
Gift of the Ernst Pulgram and Frances McSparran Collection, 2007/2.108
Prints and printing processes held a special position in the practices of Expressionist artists. On a practical level, prints were an easy way disseminate images and obtain income. For artists like Otto Dix and George Grosz, whose work had significant social and political dimensions, printmaking became a way to reach the masses. Yet prints were also a way to both tap into medieval German artistic traditions and reinvigorate traditional practices in the midst of increasing mechanization. Many Expressionists turned to German sources for their print subjects; these three works are based on a Bach cantata in the Kokoschka, a German folktale in the Kubin, and an illustrated history of Martin Luther in the Corinth.
Subject Matter:
A depiction of the wars that resulted from Martin Luther's Reformation - specifically, an army marching to battle under the banner of Martin Luther's most famous hymn, "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God."
Physical Description:
An approaching army in the foreground, with pikes or lances held in fists. A mounted soldier in the background carries a lance. At the top of the image is the phrase, left to right: "EINE feste Burg ist unser GOTT" — the first line to Martin Luther's hymn, "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God."
Usage Rights:
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