Kathe Kollwitz.

Kathe Schmidt was born in Konigsberg, East Prussia, in 1867. She developed a strong interest in art and in 1884 enrolled at the School for Women Artists in Berlin.

In 1889 Kathe married Karl Kollwitz, a doctor who worked in one of the poor districts of Berlin. Inspired by Gerhart Hauptmann's play, The Weavers, Kollwitz began work on a series of six prints, A Weavers' Uprising (1893-97). In 1898 Kollwitz began teaching in the School for Women Artists. The following year A Weavers' Uprising was exhibited in Dresden and purchased by a local museum.

After the success of a Weavers' Uprising, Kollwitz began work on the Peasants' War (1902-08). During this period she taught at the Academie Julien in Paris and spent several months in Italy. When she returned to Germany in 1909, Kollwitz began contributing work to the journal, Simplicissimus. Now a committed socialist, Kollwitz produced drawings such as Homeless, Waiting for the Drunkard, Down to the River and Unemployment, that illustrated the poverty of working class people living in Germany.
Soon after the start of the First World War her son, Peter Kollwitz, joined the German Army. He was killed on 22nd October, 1914 at Diksmuide on the Western Front. Over the next few years Kollwitz produced a series of drawings illustrating the impact that war had on women. This included Widows and Orphans (1919), Killed in Action (1921) and the Survivors (1923).


Kathe Kollwitz, Widows and Orphans (1919)

In 1920 Kollwitz joined Albert Einstein, George Grosz, Henri Barbusse and Upton Sinclair to form the International Workers Aid (IAH). She produced several posters for the organisation including Help Russia and Vienna is Dying! Save her Children!.

Kollwitz also began work on a series of seven woodcuts called War. This was followed by Mourning Parents, a memorial to her dead son, and a collection of lithographs entitled Death.

In 1932 Kollwitz joined with other socialists in signing an appeal of unity against the Nazi Party. After Adolf Hitlergained power, Kollwitz was forced to resign from the Prussian Academy of Arts.

During the Second World War, her grandson, Peter Kollwitz, was killed while fighting for the German Army on the Eastern Front. Kathe Kollwitz died at Moritzburg on 22nd April, 1945.




Kathe Kollwitz, Killed in Action (1921)

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/ARTkollwitz.htm