Happy birthday dear ladies (Kathe Kollwitz and Artemisia Gentileschi) Revisited
Artemisia Gentileschi self portrait
Two very different women artists share a birthday today. Italian Baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi (1593 – 1656) and German painter, printmaker and sculptor Kathe Kollwitz (1867 -1945). I have already written about Gentileschi in my post ‘Behind the Paint – Susannah and the Elders by Artemisia Gentileschi’ There is a good website which is dedicated to this artist here
Kollowitz had great empathy towards the less fortunate of society and this strongly underlines her work.
Kathe Kollwitz ‘Weavers Uprising’
Although her work started of Naturalistically, Expressionist qualities found their way into her later work. Kathe married doctor Karl Kollwitz who worked in the poorer areas of Berlin. She taught art at a school for women artists and began exhibiting her work in Dresden. A Weavers uprising (1893 -97) proved very popular and this was followed up by Peasants’ War’ (1902 – 1908).
Hunger by Kathe Kollwitz
Kollwitz was a Socialist and contributed a lot of drawings which depict the poverty of the working class of Germany in this period. She also contributed work to Simplicissimus a journal. When her soldier son Peter was killed in 1914, the artist began a series of works that showed the effect war has upon women.
kollwitz widows and orphans
‘Killed in Action’, Widows and Orphans and The Survivors were all worked between 1919 and 1923. Kollwitz also illustrated political posters for organisations, for example IAH (International Workers Aid).
Sadly history repeated itself and Kollwitz’s grandson (also called Peter) was killed in the second World War. The artist herself died in 1945. A good biography about Kollwitz can be found here
Kollwitz woman with dead child 1903 etching
Woman with dead child etching from here. Widows and Orphans image from here. Several good images from here. Weavers uprising image from here Susanna and the elders Gentileschi image from here
July 8, 2010 at 3:36 am
I’ve always thought Kollwitz’s work was deeply felt and that her genius was that she could convey this in her prints. How she was able to do this without the use of color (which I think as being an emotional vehicle) is amazing to me. Artemisia also comes from a place of pain. A good artist friend of mine is convinced that much of the great art of the world was created from some wound or remembered pain. What do you think?
July 8, 2010 at 11:27 am
Excellent point Al! emotion conveyed through monochrome! I wonder if this contributes to the starkness of the grief? I don’t know if all great work comes from a place of pain though, though a lot does I supppose. But perhaps this goes back to the romantic idea of the ‘sufferrng’ artist starving in a garret. It is from this idea that some artists have a problem in actually putting a fair value (monetary) on their work. Hirst of course bucks the trend and is the reversal. More power to his elbow, I suppose:) 🙂
July 8, 2010 at 5:20 am
I have always liked Kathe Kollwitz’s work. I was introduced to her by my drawing teacher in the 80’s and thought her work magnificent. She takes a drawing and turns it into a self-expression few can match. I had not seen “Weavers Uprising”. Thank-you for talking about her, Lynda.
July 8, 2010 at 11:32 am
She makes each expressive mark count doesn’t she! I found etching quite difficult in printmaking and time consuming. There is so much detail and passion in her marks – and truth. She speaks straight from the heart and with empathy. Glad you liked this post Leslie!
July 8, 2010 at 2:00 pm
Fantastic post for today!
Thank you!
July 9, 2010 at 11:07 am
Thanks for reading Anna – appreciated:)
September 5, 2011 at 4:10 am
Kollwitz died in 1945. Great post though 🙂
September 5, 2011 at 3:45 pm
I don’t know where 1922 came from :-0 I’ve corrected this now. Thanks for reading Megan!