Label TextAlthough no hard evidence exists that this is an autobiographical painting, many of the mysterious figures and forms in The Path appear to play out events in Höch’s life. The tall, red woman in the lower center of the work bears a strong resemblance to the artist. Cycles of life and death are a prominent theme in the work. The path begins with an old man, then a young couple, a funeral, a separated couple, and finally a pregnant woman. All of these events are surrounded by a cavalcade of strange animals and plant-like forms, with two large flowers standing at path’s beginning and end. These blooms, and the old man standing near the beginning, may represent Höch’s father, an avid gardener who passed this love of nature onto the artist. Many images of children also appear, both in this work and the collages Höch created around this time. As the images of couples in this work suggest, her romantic life was very tumultuous during the 1920s, and she was preoccupied with having children.
Exhibition History"The Louise Noun Collection of Art by Women" The University of Iowa Museum of Art, March 24 - 13, 1990; DMAC, May 25 - August 5, 1990
Published ReferencesAdriani Gotz, ed., HANNAH HÖCH, DuMont Buchverlag, Cologne, No.116, ill. p.174
U of I, 1990, Conklin, ed., p.24-25 (illustration)
Ellen Maurer, SYMBOLISCHE GEMALDE VON HANNAH HÖCH, Master's Dissertation, Ludwig - Maximilian - Universitat, Munich, 1983, p.24, ill. no.18
Exhibition History"The Louise Noun Collection of Art by Women" The University of Iowa Museum of Art, March 24 - 13, 1990; DMAC, May 25 - August 5, 1990
Published ReferencesAdriani Gotz, ed., HANNAH HÖCH, DuMont Buchverlag, Cologne, No.116, ill. p.174
U of I, 1990, Conklin, ed., p.24-25 (illustration)
Ellen Maurer, SYMBOLISCHE GEMALDE VON HANNAH HÖCH, Master's Dissertation, Ludwig - Maximilian - Universitat, Munich, 1983, p.24, ill. no.18
DimensionsFrame: 43 1/2 × 31 3/4 × 2 in. (110.5 × 80.6 × 5.1 cm)
Canvas (visible): 36 1/2 × 24 3/4 in. (92.7 × 62.9 cm)
Canvas (visible): 36 1/2 × 24 3/4 in. (92.7 × 62.9 cm)
Accession Number 2003.326
Classificationspainting
CopyrightPublic Domain
SignedH H (l,l oil paint)
InscriptionsHannah Hoch, 1927, 'Der Weg (verso u,c)
Grete Konig/Hoch (verso l,l)
Grete Konig, 811 Murnau, Burggraben 36, Tel.08841/9823 (verso small label l,l)
ProvenanceArtist, Germany; Fritz Schönthal, Berlin [purchased from the previous, 1937]; (Artist, Berlin [stored for the previous, starting 1938]); Artist’s Estate, Murnau, Germany [inherited from the previous, 1978]; Ruth Schönthal-Seckel, New York [acquired from the previous as an inheritance from her father, Fritz Schönthal, 1983]; Galerie Folker Skulima, Berlin [purchased from the previous, by 1987]; Louise R. Noun, Des Moines [purchased from the previous, 1987]; Des Moines Art Center [bequest of the previous, 2003]
Collections
