Death, Woman, and Child
Kaethe Kollwitz
One of the most influential and famous German printmakers of the 20th century,
Kaethe Kollwitz starkly depicted the plight of the poor and denounced
the atrocities of war. Working at a time when many artists used their
art to explore formal issues, Kollwitz devoted herself to describing the
human condition. She declined the use of color, letting her vigorously
clear and articulate lines express urgency and social purpose. Her simplification
of form and absence of decoration and ornamentation contribute to the
power of her work.
Kaethe Schmidt Kollwitz was born in 1867 in East Prussia to a large
family in which freedom, social activism, and spiritual dedication were prized.
She began her training at age 14 under the engraver Rudolf Mauer, and at 17 she
moved to Berlin and enrolled in the School for Women Artists. Her teacher
encouraged her to seek out the work of Max Klinger. Captivated by Klinger’s work
and deeply influenced by the writings of Emile Zola, Kollwitz turned to etching
and lithography to depict social issues. Kollwitz turned to making sculptures
for a brief period, as well.
Kollwitz greeted the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the German revolution
of 1918 with hope, but she eventually became disillusioned with Soviet communism. During
the years of the Weimar Republic, she became the first woman to be elected a member of the
Prussian Academy of Arts, where she was head of the Master Studio for Graphic Arts.
Despite these honors, she continued to devote herself to socially effective, easily
understood art.
Kollwitz’s print Death, Woman, and Child, in the Handwerker Gallery
permanent collection, is one of many the artist created after 1914, the year her youngest
son died in battle. She expressed her grief in a cycle of prints that treat the subject of
a mother protecting her children or a mother with a dead child. Distortion merging woman
and child in one undistinguishable form emphasizes the dramatic feeling of loss and
bereavement.
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