bavarikon4UDescription
In 1976/77 the first figure of Job [by Fritz Koenig (1924-2017)] carved from an oak trunk was created closely in time to representations of "Death and the Maiden". It was the starting point for a series of formulations in iron and bronze that formally deal with the figure of suffering from the Old Testament. However, these works are not based causally on Koenig's Christian themed interest in the figure of Job. This subject is rather an example for those works by the artist whose Christian, literary or philosophical connotation can be found once the formulation has already become an expression.... Koenig shows the person thrown back onto the primary source of himself: desperate, stripped of his identity and with a broken will. The knees no longer bear the burden of his own body and the floor on which the figure stands is no longer able to provide support.... With the titling of the figure as Job, the cathartic horizon of meaning of the devastated person is extended by another facet: the hopeful moment.
Author
Stephanie Gilles M.A.