Wilhelm Lehmbruck (German, 1891–1919). Fallen Man. 1916–1916. Bronze sculpture. Photo Credit: bpk, Berlin / Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen, Berlin, Germany / Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz / Art Resource, NY.

An Expressionist artist whose work has been characterized as having “solid plasticity,” Lehmbruck focused on the human form. During World War I, he served in a German hospital corps; for the rest of his life, he battled depression, finally committing suicide at age 28. His sculptures were thin and elongated and usually depicted both physical and emotional suffering. This sculpture purportedly is a fallen soldier reaching with his right hand for the hilt of a sword. Steven Z. George, guest co-editor (with Chris J. Main) of this month's Special Issue on Psychologically Informed Practice, comments. “The posture of this figure clearly emphasizes the lumbar spine and shows discomfort or distress. It can be viewed as someone being defeated. But to me this piece also represents a will to keep going despite the pain.” George adds that “when I think about low back pain research and where we are in the evolution of knowledge about this condition, I am reminded of the saying ‘we have to learn to crawl before we walk, and we have to learn to walk before we run.’ Right now, especially in the psychosocial area, we are crawling and getting very close to learning to walk—but we have a long way to go before we can run.” The special issue on pages 700–824 provides a framework for physical therapists to identify and manage psychological and psychosocial obstacles to the recovery of movement and function.

Correction to April art blurb

Grant Wood (American, 1892–1942). Tree Planting Group. 1937. Lithograph. Cover art © Figge Art Museum, successors to the Estate of Nan Wood Graham/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY.

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