City of Workers

City of Workers
German: Arbeiterstadt
Artist	Hans Baluschek
Year	1920
Medium	Oil on canvas
Dimensions	123 cm× 92.1 cm(48 in× 36.3 in)
Location	Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Accession	M2010.49

City of Workers (German: Arbeiterstadt), also translated as Working-Class City, is a 1920 oil painting on canvas completed by the Berlin Secession painter Hans Baluschek. The work is in the collection of the Milwaukee Art Museum.

Description

This oil painting on canvas depicts a working class sector of the German capital, Berlin, in which industrial smoke dominates the skyline and the few lights of windows are drowned in the gloom. ^[1] The workers' homes are concentrated in the background, while the foreground is dominated by train tracks and the white (back) light of a railway signal. In the lower left corner, standing on a train car, is a dark figure shown in such little detail to almost be a silhouette wearing a coat and a hat, its back to the viewer. ^[2] The figure appears to be looking over the city, with its oppressive tight spaces.

Completion and analysis

An artist from Breslau, Hans Baluschek (1870–1935) was the son of a railway engineer who had been active in the Social Democratic Party of Germany. ^[3] He completed City of Workers in 1920, two years after Germany's defeat in World War I. A member of the Berlin Secession, Baluschek used an emotional technique similar to the German Expressionists in his work, but remained influenced by Realist subject matter. ^[2] The city-scape, with its contradictory beauty and despair, was a common subject of his. ^[4]

Art historian Catherine Sawinski describes City of Workers as "a powerful critique of what political and social issues can do to ordinary citizens", one which depicts Berlin as "a menacing and dehumanizing force". ^[2] Baluschek was a proponent for workers rights and himself a member of the Social Democratic Party. ^{[2] [5]}

Provenance

City of Workers was once owned by Prince Wilhelm Victor of Prussia. ^[2] Later owners included collectors in Rotterdam and The Hague. In 2006, the painting—expected to bring €15,000 to €20,000—was sold at Sotheby's Amsterdam for €95,000 (US$126,254) to an American collector. ^[6] This was a record for a work by Baluschek. The painting was purchased by the Milwaukee Art Museum in 2010 from the Munich auction house Karl & Faber  [ de ]. ^{[2] [7]}

References

1. Schwarke, Christian (2022). "Schattentheater – Transzendenz als Projektionsfläche des Technischen" (PDF). In Maasen, Sabine; Atwood, David (eds.). Immanente Religion – Transzendente Technologie[Immanent Religion – Transcendent Technology] (in German). Opladen: Verlag Barbara Budrich. p. 81. ISBN   978-3847424048 . Retrieved 13 August 2025.
2. Sawinski, Catherine (20 September 2011). "From the Collection–Hans Baluschek's "Working-class City"". Milwaukee Art Museum . Milwaukee, WI. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
3. Bröhan, Margrit (1985). Hans Baluschek, 1870-1935 : Maler, Zeichner, Illustrator [Hans Baluschek, 1870-1935: Painter, Draftsman, Illustrator] (in German). Berlin: Bröhan-Museum Berlin. p. 14. ISBN   978-3875841510 . Retrieved 13 August 2025.
4. West, Shearer (2001). The Visual Arts in Germany, 1890-1937: Utopia and Despair. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. p. 41. ISBN   978-0813529110 . Retrieved 13 August 2025.
5. Huber, Melanie (2023). "Hans Baluschek & Carel Willink – Art for the People". Stadtmuseum Berlin. Berlin. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
6. "Hans Baluschek, Arbeiterstadt - Industrial town, 1920". Artsy . New York. 5 December 2006. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
7. "Hans Baluschek "Arbeiterstadt"". Karl & Faber. Munich. 28 October 2010. Retrieved 13 August 2025.