The Blind Man and the Girl, 1943

About the Work

In 1943 Karl Hofer’s Berlin studio was destroyed during a bombing raid. The painter, whom the National Socialists had banned from his profession in 1937, had to look on as more than 1,000 of his paintings were consumed in the flames. This key work was created shortly afterwards. Hofer presents himself as a blind man in front of the ruins of the destroyed city. The artist thus underlines his loss and helplessness, but at the same time offers a glimmer of hope: he finds support in the figure of a young woman gazing optimistically ahead. Hofer painted two more versions of this motif that same year.