Accession Number
1948/1.426

Title
The Lord's Prayer, sheet 4 - Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done on Earth, as It Is in Heaven (Das Vaterunser - Dein Reich komme, Dein Wille geschehe, Wie im Himmel, also auch auf Erden)

Artist(s)
Max Pechstein

Object Creation Date
1921

Medium & Support
woodcut with hand-coloring on paper

Dimensions
23 ½ in x 16 ¼ in (59.69 cm x 41.28 cm);28 ⅛ in x 22 in (71.44 cm x 55.88 cm)

Credit Line
Museum Purchase

Subject matter
Pechstein's "The Lord's Prayer" series of woodcuts mixes the text of the prayer with images of human wretchedness and spiritual need that draw on the Christian tradition to comment directly on the suffering and despair experienced by many Germans in the aftermath of the First World War and the economic crisis that followed.
This sheet depicts three men in various poses of exultation and wonder as the light of heaven breaks through darks clouds and shines on the water.

Physical Description
Three male figures dressed in dark clothing, with their backs to the viewer, stand on a shore facing the water as shafts of light break through dark clouds overhead. The figure at the viewer's left raises his hands in exultation. The man in the center stands with head tilted back; the figure at the viewer's righ looks down, as if at his hands. The words of the Lord's Prayer are presented in three lines of text, at the top, middle, and bottom of the composition.

Primary Object Classification
Print

Collection Area
Modern and Contemporary

Rights
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Keywords
Expressionism
Expressionist (style)
clouds
heaven
men (male humans)
modern and contemporary art
portfolios (groups of works)
prayers (documents)
rays
sunlight
woodcuts (prints)