Ernst Hassebrauk

Initially, what the Expressionists of the ›Brücke‹ brought to the city of art, residence, industry and civil servants [Dresden] was also an intensified Impressionism. For Hassebrauk, expressive, ecstatic moments actually only came with age, as an act of self-liberation; in his youth, he was more absorbed in detail – which might make him appear to belong to the Neue Sachlichkeit movement, but he was never objectively cold, always oscillating between impression and expression.

Anyone familiar with Hassebrauk's work will appreciate its baroque character and its identity with the city in which he worked. Hassebrauk himself, with his imposing stature, was a baroque figure, full of sensitivity and responsiveness. The Baroque suited him, as Werner Schmidt once wrote, in the sense of magnificent opulence, powerful movement, fascinating appearance and, at the same time, encyclopaedic scope.

The painter's impetuous temperament found its freest expression in still lifes. Hassebrauk's colouristic experiences allowed him to create cheerful and, despite all the movement, harmonious creations. He particularly enjoyed painting arrangements of fruit and fine vessels, and in his later years he developed a certain preference for floral still lifes. Technically, he used acrylic colours and gouaches, as well as collage, and achieved the finest colour differentiations in pastel (often on grey-blue French paper). In terms of colour, Hassebrauk loved a tension that was enhanced by generous, visible brushstrokes. Often, a light green is set against a heavy violet, and strong, prominent red, which brings a dynamic quality, can also be found. The forms are powerful and swelling, with broad coloured lines occasionally undulating around the contours of the objects.