Kathe Kollwitz Overview

Probably the most lyrical and emotional of the German Expressionists, Kathe Kollwitz explored the austere themes of suffering and death in her poignant prints and compelling sculptures. Born to parents with strong Socialist beliefs, Kollwitz later married a doctor but settled... [more]

Probably the most lyrical and emotional of the German Expressionists, Kathe Kollwitz explored the austere themes of suffering and death in her poignant prints and compelling sculptures. Born to parents with strong Socialist beliefs, Kollwitz later married a doctor but settled in one of the poorest districts of Berlin during and after World War I. Her grim environment informed much of her work, as she explored subjects such as oppression, poverty, and death. Kollwitz infused passion and empathy into these drawings, lithographs, and engravings, which are chiefly of women and children. Upholding her Socialist philosophy and bent on sharing her insight with a wide audience, Kollwitz deliberately chose to exhibit most of her art in print form so that more people could afford to purchase the images. Dark themes of rebellion, unleashed anger, and pain pervade much of Kollwitz's work, and she masterfully conveys authentic human emotion in the faces and gestures of her subjects. Her work is particularly informed by German Symbolist Max Klinger and by the writings of Emile Zola, and it generally incorporates a wide range of artistic influences. Kollwitz's first cycle of prints, completed in 1897, stemmed from a Gerhart Hauptmann play about an 1844 revolt of German weavers. In "Outbreak" (from "Peasant's War," a six-print series depicting a sixteenth-century peasant rebellion), Kollwitz portrays Black Anna, a woman with whom she apparently identified, as leading the tortured laborers into battle against their oppressors. The enraged Anna is a large, imposing figure, arms flung above her head, hands rigid with anger, inciting her followers to action. Combining the techniques of etching, aquatint, and soft ground, Kollwitz captured the fervor of the moment shining in the faces in the crowd, and in the tense, taut figure of Black Anna herself. Although Kollwitz was the first woman elected to the Prussian Academy, her politics caused her to be expelled in 1933; she was later forbidden to exhibit, her art classified as "degenerate." Despite such obstacles, she remained in Berlin, devoted to the depiction of the bleak social conditions of her time. [show less]