Kollwitz, Käthe: Hunger (Leaf 2 of the episode: Proletariat)

Unknown artist

The episode “Proletariat” (1925) is one of the lesser-known works of the artist, probably because she is only fully represented in a few collections and so, unlike her high print runs, could not be widely distributed among her publishers Emil Richter and Alexander van der Becke. The work is one of its most poignant in its intensity and scarcity. After the end of the First World War, Käthe Kollwitz turned to woodcut, later she used only lithography in print. This is also a nice impression of the supplemented wooden stick. It is black between the whip of hunger and the people who swallow themselves below, the beams that were previously present there, which were supposed to indicate the dynamics of whipping, are removed in favor of a clarified composition. The paper was published by Emil Richter in 1926. This is a print without numbering outside the edition. The wooden stick is not preserved. Taken from the collection of the magistrate of Greater Berlin to the Märkische Museum. Referred to re. u. Handwritten “Käthe Kollwitz,” li. Among other things, “Hunger (proletariat),” a triangle restored in the depiction. On the back, sticker magistrate of Greater Berlin. (Gallery of the 20th century, Inv. No. 352) and stamp of the Märkische Museum. Literature: Alexandra von dem Knesebeck: Käthe Kollwitz. List of works of the graphic. Bd. 1-2. Bern 2002, No. 222 XV (this specimen is not recorded at Knesebeck). - August Klipstein: Käthe Kollwitz. List of the graphic work. For the years 1890-1912 using the 1913 Für uvrekataloge by Prof. Dr. Johannes Sievers. Berlin 1955, No. 207 XV a.