Fabrikarbeiter

Born in Dresden, the German painter and printmaker Conrad Felixmüller was raised in a working class family, the son of a factory blacksmith. Politically active from a young age, his upbringing gave him a sympathetic understanding of the plight of the working poor. During World War I, he became increasingly involved in leftist political and literary circles, criticizing the corruption and moral void of German society. His paintings and graphic art of this period and early 1920s were closely aligned with the subjects and styles of the German Expressionists, though he would later abandon this approach for hard-edge realism. In this print of 1921, Felixmüller uses his preferred medium of woodcut to portray a disabled factory worker, whose weary and withdrawn expression, together with his injured hand, suggest he is out of work with few prospects for earning a living. In the distance, factories continue to operate, smoke belching from their stacks.