Kathe Kollwitz German Expressionist Etching Art Print

Kathe Kollwitz was a German artist who is best known for her expressionist etchings and lithographs. Her work often dealt with social and political issues, such as poverty, war, and death. Kollwitz was born in 1867 in Konigsberg, East Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia). She began studying art at the age of 17, and she eventually enrolled at the Women’s Academy of Art in Berlin. After several years of study, she married Karl Kollwitz, a doctor who worked with the poor. This experience had a profound effect on her work, which increasingly came to focus on the plight of the working class. In the early 1900s, Kollwitz began experimenting with printmaking, and she quickly developed a distinctive style that emphasized heavy lines and dark shadows. Her prints were often signed with her initials, “KK.” During the 1920s and 1930s, Kollwitz became increasingly politically active, and she joined the German Communist Party. She also produced a number of influential works critical of the Nazi regime. In 1941, her grandson Peter was killed during World War II; this tragedy deeply affected her work for the rest of her life. Kollwitz died in 1945 at the age of 78. Today, her prints are widely collected and exhibited, and she is considered one of the most important artists of the 20th century. This original etching is hand signed by the artist and inscribed. The etching is entitled “mother with child on arm” and is a great example of German expressionist etchings and prints.