Kollwitz, Käthe: Unemployed (sheet 1 of the episode: Proletariat)

Unknown artist

The episode “Proletariat” (1925) is one of the less well-known works of the artist, probably because it is only fully represented in a few collections and so, unlike its high print runs, could not be widely distributed among your 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. Leaf 1 of the episode has the title “Unemployed” given by the artist herself. It shows a child in the left corner with a spoon in his hand, with eyes torn open, behind it also the faces of his parents front in the shade, on the left a window opening. This print was published outside the numbered edition of Emil Richter in 1926. Taken from the collection of the magistrate of Greater Berlin to the Märkische Museum. Referred to re. “Käthe Kollwitz/Proletariat/Unemployed.” Literature: Alexandra von dem Knesebeck: Käthe Kollwitz. List of works of the graphic. Bd. 1-2- Bern 2002, No. 215 X (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. 206 VIII a.