Marked on the plinth: Cast Stromsky 1/8 03 Cast: Stromsky Posthumous edition of 8 copies.
Literature: Harry Schlichtenmaier, Otto Baum. Catalog raisonné of the sculptures, in: Renate Wiehager, Otto Baum. Retrospective on the occasion of his 100th birthday, Esslingen, 2000, No. 182; ill. p. 180

The "Anrufung" (1952-57) by Otto Baum is a posthumously cast bronze copy of an unrealized large sculpture in concrete, once intended for the Birkenkopf in Stuttgart. There it was to be erected as a memorial on the hill made of rubble from World War II, which came to be known as "Monte Scherbelino," but this did not happen because the sculptor, who taught at the Stuttgart Academy and was known for his refusal to compromise, lost the competition. Although this cast, made from a plaster model, was only executed in a small-scale version, it is nonetheless fascinating because of its soulful, sensual emotionality and the fleeting gestures it captures. Thus, the "Invocation" seems to admonish us, as it were, and to touch us in a strange way in our deepest innermost being, which is also referred to by Baum's accompanying titles "Fleeing" and "Great Lament".