“I approve that my art has purpose. I want to have an effect during this time in which people are so helpless
and needy.” Käthe Kollwitz, diary, November 1922
Modernism was largely the rejection of tradition. Kathe Kollwitz was working in Germany in the early 1900's. As a painter, printmaker and sculptor, she explored the tragedy of war, the human condition and human suffering. Kollwitz's major inspiration in her work was personal experience. Kollwitz was a pacifist and a socialist and this was evident through her artworks.
Etching, woodcuts, drawing, lithograph were the materials and techniques that she utilised to create her works. Kollwitz's first drawings were of labourers. The German Peasant War was one of her first series of works based on the emerging workers movements. Her black and white works were often concerned with the representation of the human body and thematically linked to social comment. Kollwitz had a strong sensibility to sculpture and this began to appear in her work through her graphically expressive drawing and prints. The death of Kollwitz's son and the ongoing war became a predominant force in works that took on an air of passivity, despair and suffering. Kollwitz fluctuated between ideas of social revolution and the misery of the human condition.
The 1930's saw Kollwitz reach great successes in her career, but it wasnt long before she was silenced by the threat of deportation by Nazi leaders. Kollwitz plunged back into depression and continued to make works depicting political events through slumped figures expressing mourning, longing, protection and death.
When viewing Kollwitz's work it is important to consider the Personal and Formal frameworks when critically analysing her works.
and needy.” Käthe Kollwitz, diary, November 1922
Modernism was largely the rejection of tradition. Kathe Kollwitz was working in Germany in the early 1900's. As a painter, printmaker and sculptor, she explored the tragedy of war, the human condition and human suffering. Kollwitz's major inspiration in her work was personal experience. Kollwitz was a pacifist and a socialist and this was evident through her artworks.
Etching, woodcuts, drawing, lithograph were the materials and techniques that she utilised to create her works. Kollwitz's first drawings were of labourers. The German Peasant War was one of her first series of works based on the emerging workers movements. Her black and white works were often concerned with the representation of the human body and thematically linked to social comment. Kollwitz had a strong sensibility to sculpture and this began to appear in her work through her graphically expressive drawing and prints. The death of Kollwitz's son and the ongoing war became a predominant force in works that took on an air of passivity, despair and suffering. Kollwitz fluctuated between ideas of social revolution and the misery of the human condition.
The 1930's saw Kollwitz reach great successes in her career, but it wasnt long before she was silenced by the threat of deportation by Nazi leaders. Kollwitz plunged back into depression and continued to make works depicting political events through slumped figures expressing mourning, longing, protection and death.
When viewing Kollwitz's work it is important to consider the Personal and Formal frameworks when critically analysing her works.
Commentary
"... Kollwitz experimented with the woodcut medium, hoping to find a print technique with which she could convey her grief, as well as strengthen and simplify her images. Searching for universal icons for the devastation imposed by war, she exploited the woodcut's inherent qualities to express the raw agony of war on the human psyche, slashing and gouging the wood to heighten the emotional impact of her images, and often silhouetting her black figures against the stark white smoothness of unprinted paper." (Wye 2004)
The Parents is a woodcut in an edition of 400. This work depicts the tragedy of war, the emotional damage inflicted on families, particularly back at home.
ACTIVITY: Answer the questions below in an extended response-
First analyse; then describe the work. Now, how do you think the work communicates meaning?
What do you think the artist is trying to say about the subject matter and the materials? What are the connections between these two elements?
If you could interview the artist, what would be the questions you would ask?
ACTIVITY: Using the Formal Framework- analyse the formal elements, the techniques, the style and the symbols and metaphors used by the artist.
The Parents is a woodcut in an edition of 400. This work depicts the tragedy of war, the emotional damage inflicted on families, particularly back at home.
ACTIVITY: Answer the questions below in an extended response-
First analyse; then describe the work. Now, how do you think the work communicates meaning?
What do you think the artist is trying to say about the subject matter and the materials? What are the connections between these two elements?
If you could interview the artist, what would be the questions you would ask?
ACTIVITY: Using the Formal Framework- analyse the formal elements, the techniques, the style and the symbols and metaphors used by the artist.