1867 Königsberg
1945 Moritzburg

Käthe Kollwitz (née Schmidt) grew up in Königsberg, where her father was head of the German free church congregation founded by her grandfather, Julius Rupp. Early on her father, a building contractor, recognised that his youngest daughter was gifted at drawing and made it possible for her to begin training in 1881 under the copperplate engraver Rudolf Mauer and later under the painter Emil Neide. At 17 Käthe Kollwitz applied to the Künstlerinnen-Schule in Berlin, where she studied under Karl Stauffer-Bern. Her teacher introduced her to Max Klinger's graphic work. These, along with Klinger's publication 'Painting and Drawing' prove to be highly formative. Between 1888 and 1889 she was able to study in Munich under Ludwig Heterich. Returning to Königsberg in 1890, she engaged intensely in etching for the first time and she married the physician Dr. Karl Kollwitz a year later, with whom she moved to Berlin. On seeing the première of Gerhard Hauptman's 'Die Weber' in 1893, Käthe Kollwitz embarked on a cycle of etchings, also entitled 'The Weavers'. Five years later it would create a sensation at the 'Große Berliner Kunstausstellung' where it would be nominated for the award of the 'Small Golden Medal'. From 1898 until 1903 Käthe Kollwitz taught the graphic arts and drawing at the Berlin Künstlerinnen-Schule. During those years she began working on a new series of etchings, 'Bauernkrieg' which is regarded as the logical sequel to her first. In this representation of the Peasants' War, her descriptive rendering of poverty, suffering, war and death reveal a strong social commitment. In 1901 she first travelled to Paris. After she ceased to teach, the artist again went to Paris in 1904 to attend the sculpture class at the Académie Julienne and made the acquaintance of Auguste Rodin. The Villa Romana Prize, which she was awarded in 1907, enabled her to spend a year studying in Florence. Her younger son's death at the beginning of the First World War motivated Kollwitz to create the woodcut series "Der Krieg". On the occasion of her 50th birthday, Käthe Kollwitz received numerous honours and awards. In Berlin Paul Cassirer mounted a comprehensive retrospective comprising 200 etchings, lithographs and drawings. Two years later the artist was appointed professor at the 'Preussische Akademie der Künste' and became head of the master studio for the graphic arts in 1928. After the National Socialists usurped power in 1933, they forced Käthe Kollwitz to resign from the academy. Only three years later some of Kollwitz's works are removed from public collections, yet her art was never doomed 'degenerate'. The war forced the artist to move to Nordhausen and from there to Moritzburg in Saxony. In her absence, her flat and Berlin studio were destroyed in the bombing raids. Käthe Kollwitz died eight days before the end of the war in Moritzburg.

Kollwitz, Käthe

Kollwitz, Käthe

Kollwitz, Käthe

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