Helmut Kohl: Break through the Wall

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Helmut Kohl: Break through the Wall

Artist Erwin Eisch (German, 1927 - 2022)

Place of OriginGlashütte Valentin Eisch, Frauenau, Germany

Date1998 (design of mold 1989)

DimensionsH: 19 ¾ in. (50.2 cm); W (Head, frontal): 9 ¼ in. (35 cm); W (head, profile): 11 ¼ in. (28.57 cm)

MediumColorless glass, mold-blown, tooled, blown; painted with unfired enamels.

ClassificationGlass

Credit LineGift of the artist

Object number

2008.124

Not on View

DescriptionThe hollow sculpture is blown of colorless glass in a two-part mold forming the head and neck of the portrait. The mold seam remains visible as a relief line separating the front and back of the head. Once the molded glass shape is removed from the form, a large blob of molten glass is added to the top of the head and quickly blown out to a bubble, which is then opened up, its edge folded under to thicken the rim, and tooled to form a crown with points. Once cooled, the head's square base rim is ground flat. The head and crown of the sculpture is finally painted overall with noticeable brush strokes in blue (crown) and black enamel paint (head). A white dove symbolizing peace is emblazoned on the front of the crown. A section of stylized brick wall representing the Berlin Wall is painted across the front of the face. The wall is fractured by a large gap in the center, marked with the words 'Break through the Wall" surrounded by an angular outline. On the lower left of the face a female figure painted in gold and outlined in red runs across a green meadow.

Published ReferencesEisch-Angus, Katharina, Erwin Eisch: Wolken waren schon immer mein letzter Halt, Glas und Bilder = Clouds have been My Foothold All Along, Glass and Paintings, Munich, Hirmer Verlag, 2012, p.197,fig. 17, repr. (col.) p. 198.Exhibition HistoryHabatat Galleries, Royal Oak, Michigan.