The Sage (Die Weise)
Can I see it?
Not on view at present
Where is “The Sage (Die Weise)” now? Collection: Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago. Not on view at present. Checked September 29, 2026.
Chicago, United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the work
A professional portraitist based in Cologne, August Sander (German, 1876–1964) had already amassed numerous photographs of farmers and peasants in the surrounding region when he decided in the early 1920s to expand his record and expressly document all classes, occupations, and lifestyles in the nation. This monumental undertaking, to which Sander gave the name People of the Twentieth Century, eventually grew to include more than 600 portraits (and thousands of poses) that formed a “physiognomical time exposure of German man,” in the photographer’s words. Remarkably consistent in their lighting and poses, and hung or reproduced in pairs in Sander’s lifetime, the portraits invite comparative analysis, suggesting limitless types rather than the quite limited typecasting espoused by Nazism, to which Sander grew increasingly opposed.
Art Institute of ChicagoCC BY 4.0
Details
- Accession number
- 1972.14
In the catalog
Sources
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Image: Art Institute of Chicago — © the artist or rights holder
![Bohemians [Willi Bongard and Gottfried Brockmann], August Sander, 1922-25](https://www.moma.org/media/W1siZiIsIjMyNDM3NiJdLFsicCIsImNvbnZlcnQiLCItcmVzaXplIDEwMjR4MTAyNFx1MDAzZSJdXQ.jpg?sha=c7a2422a7f8aefff)
![Proletarian Intellectuals [Else Schuler, Tristan Rémy, Franz Wilhelm Seiwert, Gerd Arntz], August Sander, c. 1925](https://www.moma.org/media/W1siZiIsIjMyNDY2MCJdLFsicCIsImNvbnZlcnQiLCItcmVzaXplIDEwMjR4MTAyNFx1MDAzZSJdXQ.jpg?sha=5d8368e86543f58f)
![Painter [Anton Räderscheidt], August Sander, 1926](https://www.moma.org/media/W1siZiIsIjMyOTIyNiJdLFsicCIsImNvbnZlcnQiLCItcmVzaXplIDEwMjR4MTAyNFx1MDAzZSJdXQ.jpg?sha=26d46e5adf945aed)
