Käthe Kollwitz, or etchings that wrenched my heart.
I recalled reading a section in William T. Vollmann’s beautiful book Europe Central that focused on Käthe Kollwitz, a German artist that lived and created through both of the World Wars, but it wasn’t until last night that I came across a book on Kollwitz…and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t well up looking at the work of this artist who lost her son in WWI, her grandson in WWII, and who’s life was spent surrounded by war and death – I could feel the absolute necessity of her work, her tremendous empathy…and seeing what she felt, I counted my blessings.
Etching: “Woman with Dead Child” by Kathe Kollwitz.
Etching: “After the Battle” by Kathe Kollwitz.
In high school I was drawn to her work, it did what I felt art should – evoked emotion. I loved her wood cuts and tried to simulate her deliberate use of hands as the focal point of sadness.
My friends and I got so touched by this that we actually did a National History Day project on her works.
I did a project on he and i was absolutely blown away. Her emotion is so intense and the charcoal drawings really spoke to me. I used to hate charcoal before i saw her work and now i can’t stop tying to draw like her. but she really made me look at the world in a totally different way. the beauty and the raw ugliness