Im not sure its possible to glance at a Kathe Kollwitz print without feeling something.
Hers was an art of social purpose.
Kathe Kollwitz.The Mothers(Mutter), 1918.
Artist Käthe Kollwitz focused on the plight of women, children, and the working class in early-20th-century Germany.
The whole series may be a war epic, but its told from the womens perspective.
Kathe Kollwitz.Woman with Dead Child(Frau mit totem Kind).
At MoMA, six versions are included.
Käthe Kollwitz.The Mothers(Mütter), 1918.
Each brings the heart to a halt.
A mother, naked, clutches her childs lifeless body, her face pressed into his chest.
Kollwitzs choice to work with printmaking over painting was strategic.
Käthe Kollwitz.Woman with Dead Child(Frau mit totem Kind). 1903.
Prints can be readily reproduced and circulated.
Kollwitz and fellow printmakers like Otto Dix published their images in pamphlets and journals.
Her name became widely known, even internationally.
Käthe Kollwitz.Never Again War!(Nie wieder Krieg!). 1924.
Kollwitzs 1924 posterNever Again War!
(Nie wieder krieg!)
was shared all over the world, and 100 years later remains a relevant message for peace.
Käthe Kollwitz,The Parents (Die Eltern)fromWar (Krieg), 1921–22, published 1923.
Kathe Kollwitz.Never Again War!
(Nie wieder Krieg!).
Kollwitz found acclaim as an artist in early-20th-century Berlin, rare for a woman at the time.
Käthe Kollwitz,Self-Portrait en Face (Selbstbildnis en face), c.1904.
She was, however, involved in artistic and political groups that advocated for progress.
Kathe Kollwitz,The Parents (Die Eltern)fromWar (Krieg), 192122, published 1923.
Kollwitz showed the harrowing effects of progress on the vulnerable.
Her figures ache for liberation, and for the losses incurred in its pursuit.
I have never done any work cold, Kollwitz once wrote to her son Hans.
I have always worked with my blood, so to speak.
Those who see these things must feel that.
Kathe Kollwitzis on view at the Museum of Modern Art in New York through July 20, 2024.
Kathe Kollwitz,Self-Portrait en Face (Selbstbildnis en face), c.1904.
