Two Heads (Zwei Madchenkopfe) c. 1927

Karl Hofer made this print, called 'Two Heads,' using etching. Hofer's work, produced in Germany during the first half of the twentieth century, often explores the emotional and psychological states of his subjects, and the social dynamics that shape identity. The superimposition of the two heads creates a sense of intimacy, but also of tension, as if the figures are both connected and struggling against each other. The lines are simple, but expressive, and the composition is carefully balanced. Germany in this period saw the rise of new psychological theories, as well as the rise of Nazism. Hofer would be attacked by the Nazi regime as a 'degenerate' artist. Historical research into Hofer’s biography, as well as into the art criticism of the period, helps us understand the artwork as a product of a specific cultural and institutional context. The meaning of art, in the end, is contingent on these conditions.