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Uprising (Aufruhr)

1899
Not on view
Kollwitz engaged themes of social justice throughout her career, drawing on the hardships experienced by the working classes as a frequent subject. In Uprising, Kollwitz applied her virtuosic handling of etching, drypoint, and aquatint techniques to render masses of peasants following a standard-bearer who charges forward, leading the people. An allegorical female nude, the personification of Revolution, flies above them. She turns her head toward the left to look at the burning castle, which she appears to have set on fire with her torch. Uprising is directly related to Kollwitz’s print portfolio Peasants’ War (1901–8). She based the portfolio on the peasant revolt in Germany in the 1520s, when hundreds of thousands of peasants fought for greater economic and religious freedom during the Protestant Reformation.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Uprising (Aufruhr)
  • Artist: Käthe Kollwitz (German, Kaliningrad (Königsberg) 1867–1945 Moritzburg)
  • Date: 1899
  • Medium: Etching, drypoint, and aquatint; seventh state of nine
  • Dimensions: plate: 11 5/8 x 12 5/8 in. (29.5 x 32.1 cm)
    sheet: 17 13/16 x 24 7/8 in. (45.2 x 63.2 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Gift of Leo Wallerstein, 1924
  • Object Number: 24.4.36
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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The End
Käthe Kollwitz
1898
Mothers, Give from your Abundance (Mütter gebt von eurem Überfluss), Käthe Kollwitz German, Lithograph
Mothers, Give from your Abundance (Mütter gebt von eurem Überfluss)
Käthe Kollwitz
1926
Council, Käthe Kollwitz German, Etching; fifth state of seven
Council
Käthe Kollwitz
1895
Woman with Bent Head (Gesenkter Frauenkopf)
Käthe Kollwitz
1905
Downtrod Woman (Zertretene from Zeitschrift für Bildende Kunst), Käthe Kollwitz German, Etching
Downtrod Woman (Zertretene from Zeitschrift für Bildende Kunst)
Käthe Kollwitz
1900

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