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Arbeitslos

1928
Not on view
This photograph is the final plate in "Antlitz der Zeit" ("Face of the Time"), Sander's typological study of German citizens. A poignant image of disempowerment, the picture reveals Sander's prescient understanding of the social and economic forces at work in the Weimar Republic. Taking Sander's sympathetic portrayal of Germans of all occupations and ethnicities as a serious threat, the Fascists destroyed the printing blocks and most copies of this book in 1934. This print of the whole negative, showing both the "last" man and his desolate corner, is the only one known to survive.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Arbeitslos
  • Artist: August Sander (German, 1876–1964)
  • Date: 1928
  • Medium: Gelatin silver print
  • Dimensions: 23 x 17 cm (9 1/16 x 6 11/16 in.)
  • Classification: Photographs
  • Credit Line: Purchase, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Gift, through Joyce and Robert Menschel and Samuel J. Wagstaff Jr. Bequest, 1991
  • Object Number: 1991.1232
  • Rights and Reproduction: © 2025 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
  • Curatorial Department: Photographs

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Eifel Landscape with the Kasselburg, August Sander German, Gelatin silver print
Eifel Landscape with the Kasselburg
August Sander
1930s
[Fallen Tree in Forest, Germany], August Sander German, Gelatin silver print
[Fallen Tree in Forest, Germany]
August Sander
1930s
High School Student, August Sander German, Gelatin silver print
High School Student
August Sander
1926
Footpath in the Siebengebirge, August Sander German, Gelatin silver print
Footpath in the Siebengebirge
August Sander
ca. 1934
Eye of an Eighteen-Year-Old Young Man, August Sander German, Gelatin silver print
Eye of an Eighteen-Year-Old Young Man
August Sander
1925–26

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