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 Hitler gained 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)
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