Hinsch, Henry (1909-1979), The washing of the feet, 1949

Henry Hinsch(1909 Nikolaev - 1979 Göttingen), The washing of the feet , 1949. Woodcut on handmade laid paper with watermark, 37 cm x 19.5 cm (image), 49 cm x 31.5 cm (sheet size), signed “Henry Hinsch” in pencil lower right and dated “[19]49”.

- Paper with losses in the upper left area, old mounting remnants, outside of the depiction partially wavy and with slight creases, pencil annotations, the depiction itself in good and colorful condition

- Divine Humanity -

Christ kneels at the foot of a long table and washes the feet of the disciples after the Last Supper. With outstretched arms, the apostle before Christ reacts to the "humiliation" of the Savior, who, however, practices exemplary charity by washing his feet. Hinsch thus expresses the hope that after the time of terror, a human community can be cultivated again.

Looking at Christ from the side, we see the table from above, which has the same structure as the background of the painting. As a result, the table of the Last Supper, which emerges from the background, is present throughout the painting. The ribbon of the disciples is also integrated into the vertical stripes leading to Christ, giving them an ornamental quality and adding tension to the structure of the image.

About the artist

Henry Hinsch grew up in Riga. During the October Revolution, the family fled to Germany in 1917. In Stettin, he studied graphic art under Vincent Weber at the Academy of Applied Arts. On the recommendation of the director of the Hamburg Kunsthalle, Gustav Pauli, the talented Hinsch received a scholarship to the Berlin Art Academy, where he studied under Fritz Burmann from 1937 to 1939. After the end of the war, he settled in Göttingen as a freelance artist. There, together with Helmut Bönitz, he founded the artists' association 'Kreis 34' and became involved in the 'Bund Bildender Künstler (BBK)'. Study trips took him to Italy, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Austria and Belgium.

In 1979, the painter and sculptor was awarded the city's medal of honor.