 |
| Käthe Kollwitz, Self-portrait toward left, 1901 |
 |
| Woman with Dead Child, 1903 |
German artist Käthe Kollwitz (1867–1945) is probably best known to our readers as a sculptor because of two notable pieces inspired by the death of her soldier son, Peter, Grieving Parents now located at the Vladslo German Cemetery in Flanders, and Mother with Her Dead Son, 1937, which sits on Unter den Linden in Berlin. Although she was trained as painter and sculptor, Kollwitz turned exclusively to print making in the early 1890s. She would create 275 prints and posters during her career, many of them of a political character.
 |
| Help Russia, 1921 |
 |
| Vienna is dying! Save its Children!, 1920 |
Early in her career, she became committed to improving the plight of the working class, women, and children. This was likely based on her family’s left-wing values and her experiences with the poor workers who were patients in her husband’s medical practice. Some of her postwar work also reflects strong sympathy with the civilian populations of the belligerent nations.
 |
| In Memoriam, Karl Liebknecht, 1920 |
 |
| Never Again War, 1924 |
Strongly antiwar, she seems to have become increasingly radicalized during the revolution of 1919 and the unstable 1920s. By 1932, Kollwitz was celebrating the rise of communism. This, of course, put her on a collision course with the rising Nazis. She was included in the catalog of "Degenerate Art," and much of her work was confiscated or what is now called "shadow banned." She lost a grandson (also named Peter) during the war and passed away just 16 days before its end. Her burial plot is in Berlin's Friedrichsfelde Cemetery.
 |
| Down with the [anti] Abortion Articles, 1923 |
 |
| Solidarity, 1931–1932 |
This work includes 83 of Kollwitz's graphic works with extensive background on her life.
No comments:
Post a Comment