Käthe Kollwitz

Käthe Kollwitz, born Schmidt, was born on 8 July 1867 in Königsberg, in East Prussia. She was an important German painter, graphic artist and sculptor whose works are deeply characterised by social themes and personal experiences. Her artistic career began with drawing lessons in Königsberg and continued at the Royal Academy of Arts in Berlin. She later studied at the Ladies‘ Academy of the Munich Artists’ Association.

In 1891, she married the doctor Karl Kollwitz and moved to Berlin, where she lived for over five decades. During this time, she developed her unmistakable style, which is characterised by emotional profundity and social criticism. Her early works, in particular the cycles ‘’Ein Weberaufstand‘’ (1893-1897) and ‘’Bauernkrieg‘’ (1902-1908), reflect the life and sufferings of the working class.

The death of her younger son Peter in the First World War in 1914 had a lasting influence on her work and led to an intensive exploration of themes of grief and loss. In the 1920s, she was the first woman to be admitted to the Prussian Academy of Arts, where she was appointed as a professor. After the National Socialists seized power, she was expelled from the Academy and her works were declared ‘degenerate’.

Käthe Kollwitz died on 22 April 1945 in Moritzburg near Dresden, just a few days before the end of the war. Despite the political repression during the Nazi era, her work was preserved and is still recognised worldwide today. Her works are represented in numerous museums and important collections around the world, including the Käthe Kollwitz Museum in Berlin, the Albertinum in Dresden, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York and the British Museum in London.