born Feb. 18, 1857, Leipzig, Ger.
died July 5, 1920, near Naumburg
German painter, sculptor, and printmaker.
He is known for his use of symbol, fantasy, and dreamlike situations, reflecting a late-19th-century awareness of psychological depths. His vivid, frequently morbid imaginings and his interest in the gruesome and grotesque can be seen in his Goyaesque etchings. He is best known for a series of pen-and-ink drawings called Series upon the Theme of Christ and Fantasies upon the Finding of a Glove , which tells a strange parable of a hapless young man and his obsessive involvement with a woman's elbow-length glove. He also created controversial treatments of religious themes. In his later years he worked primarily in sculpture. He had a deep influence on many artists, including Edvard Munch , Käthe Kollwitz , Max Ernst , and Giorgio de Chirico .