Across approximately 90 pages with numerous black-and-white illustrations, the book documents two decades of work – from early figurative studies to the increasingly stylised, materially refined sculptures of the 1970s. 

The reproductions emphasise Schmettau’s handling of surface: smoothed, almost sealed forms in plaster, bronze, and mixed materials. Figures appear both intimate and estranged – heads, torsos, hybrid bodies – often engaged in quiet, ambiguous actions. The gaze is as present as withheld.

Publisher
Kunstverein Hannover / Städtische Museen Heilbronn, 1980

See also
On Schmettau’s sculptural language and Berlin context.