Hartwig Ebersbach's paintings are not created line by line, controlled in front of the painting surface, they are created with the typical abundance of his colours in intuitively increased processes of ecstatic-expressive exertion - as in his work “Tötende Madonna” / Killing Madonna. With this disturbing title, the painter refers on the one hand to the long tradition of depictions of the Virgin Mary and on the other hand steps out of their history. His Madonna is not lacking in solemn severity or maternal affection, her unmistakably strong presence has a physical and spiritual effect at the same time. Hartwig Ebersbach's painting has always had this enormous concentration of physical force and metaphorical depth. However, the fact that the Madonna “kills” is an unprecedented thought and can only be explained with the drama of the expression with which this picture, after it was created, confronts its painter.
Hartwig Ebersbach is no stranger to Magdeburg. Large personal exhibitions of the Leipzig painter took place in the Kunstmuseum Magdeburg in 1992 and 2002. His painting "Erdblitz II" is an integral part of the exhibition in the collection of the art museum.