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Mothers

Publisher Emil Richter, Dresden German
1919
Not on view
Eschewing the historical narratives and detailed compositions of her earlier work, Kollwitz created prints that became iconic images of grief and trauma. In Mothers, women and children of various ages huddle together, their linked bodies forming a solid structure that fills the composition. Kollwitz drew herself in the center, eyes closed and arms wrapped protectively around her two sons: Hans, the elder, and Peter, who was killed in combat at eighteen. The artist wrote about this work with pride and tenderness in a letter of February 1919: "I have drawn the mother who embraces her two children; I am with my own children, born from me, my Hans and my Peterchen."

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Mothers
  • Artist: Käthe Kollwitz (German, Kaliningrad (Königsberg) 1867–1945 Moritzburg)
  • Publisher: Emil Richter, Dresden
  • Date: 1919
  • Medium: Lithograph
  • Dimensions: Sheet: 20 3/4 x 27 5/8 in. (52.7 x 70.1 cm)
    Image: 17 3/16 x 22 11/16 in. (43.6 x 57.7 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1928
  • Object Number: 28.68.3
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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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
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Council, Käthe Kollwitz German, Etching; fifth state of seven
Council
Käthe Kollwitz
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Woman with Bent Head (Gesenkter Frauenkopf)
Käthe Kollwitz
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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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