Minneapolis Institute of Art

The Transformations of God (Die Wandlungen Gottes)

Ernst Barlach; Printer: Wilhelm Wagner

Date

1922

Medium

Woodcut

Department

European Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

This book contains a haunting series of seven woodcuts reflecting Ernst Barlach’s spiritual crisis in the wake of World War I and the death of his mother. Stripping traditional Christian imagery of triumph, Barlach presents God as broken, grotesque, or absent—appearing as a beggar, a corpse, or a distorted idol. With bold, expressive carving, these prints confront themes of suffering, alienation, and the search for meaning. Created during the fragile years of the Weimar Republic, "Die Wandlungen Gottes" invites viewers to grapple with divinity not as certainty, but as struggle—a deeply human force shaped by loss, doubt, and transformation. Germany, Europe

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