SMK opens a major exhibition featuring one of the most seminal artists of the twentieth century
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Monday, December 23, 2024


SMK opens a major exhibition featuring one of the most seminal artists of the twentieth century
Käthe Kollwitz, Solidarity, 1931/32, Lithographic crayon, Käthe Kollwitz Museum Köln.



COPENHAGEN.- A group of mothers putting their arms around each other to protect their frightened children. Death cracking his whip over the starving people. Rebel peasants rushing to do battle. A grieving woman cradling her dead child in her arms. A hand raised to the sky in protest.

The German artist Käthe Kollwitz (1867–1945) is known for her confrontational and harrowing subject matter. She translates social inequality, war and oppression into narratives of universal relevance, even as her deliberately unpolished works depict the living conditions in Germany at the time, calling for both resistance and compassion.

As of 7 November 2024, Kollwitz’s work can be explored in her first-ever solo show at a Danish museum when SMK – Statens Museum for Kunst opens the exhibition Käthe Kollwitz – Mensch. Presenting the full breadth of Kollwitz’s artistic endeavours, the exhibition features prints, drawings and sculptures alike. The display, comprising some 130 works, offers nuanced insight into the artist’s humanitarian commitment and the social, political and historical foundations from which her art springs.

Bearing witness to human suffering

Käthe Kollwitz was active as an artist at a time when Germany saw major changes. From the 1890s to the early 1940s, the country underwent the violent upheavals of industrialisation, which brought about hardships such as housing shortages, harsh working conditions and unemployment. The nation also saw two traumatising world wars.

With her art, Kollwitz gave a voice to those who suffered most from these circumstances. She saw herself as a critical observer of her own times, and in a diary entry from 5 January 1920 she wrote: ‘I felt that I have no right to withdraw from the responsibility of being an advocate. It is my duty to voice the sufferings of men, so never-ending and mountain-high. This is my task, but it is not at all easy to fulfill.’

Kollwitz saw the era’s rife inequality, hunger and oppression at first hand. For most of her life she lived in the poor working-class district of Prenzlauer Berg in Berlin, and through her husband, who was a doctor to the poor, she met the women of the working class. Women in particular are often the main characters in Kollwitz’s works, and in stark contrast to the many passive female figures typically found in art around the dawn of the twentieth century, Kollwitz portrayed her women as proud, strong and courageous.

Political commitment and pacifism

In her early works, Kollwitz typically strove to prompt political commitment and action by drawing on historical events. One example is her breakthrough series of prints A Weavers’ Revolt (1893–97). The cycle refers to a revolt in 1844 where harsh working conditions prompted German weavers to attack the factories. A Weavers’ Revolt was exhibited at the Große Berliner Kunstausstellung (Great Berlin Art Exhibition) in 1898, where Kollwitz was nominated for a gold medal. However, the German Emperor, Wilhelm II, vetoed her receiving the medal – presumably due to the work’s political content.

After the First World War, Kollwitz increasingly pursued a pacifist course. She lost her youngest son, Peter, near the outset of the war, and she took her own painful experience as the starting point for depicting the horrors of war, focusing on the universal human experiences of grief, separation, death and love.

Humanitarian organisations, solidly conservative magazines and left-wing publishers alike all embraced Kollwitz’s art, commissioning her to create campaigns that would have public impact. Several of the resulting works are shown at the exhibition – including the iconic poster Nie wieder Krieg (Never Again War).

To Kollwitz, the artistic and social aspects of her works were always closely interwoven. At a time when many artists idealised art as entirely independent, free and unfettered, she was adamant that her works served a purpose. She insisted on art’s ability to bring about change.

The exhibition is accompanied by a comprehensive catalogue published by SMK. Through a series of essays by Katharina Koselleck, Stense Andrea Lind Valdan, Birgitte Anderberg, Knud Romer and Karin Michaëlis, as well as an interview with printmaker Niels Borch Jensen, the catalogue introduces Kollwitz’s life and art. The book also offers new historical and present-day angles on her experimental graphic works and their groundbreaking statements about women, class society and war trauma, exploring a world where light and darkness, sorrow and hope coexist.

Käthe Kollwitz (1867–1945) was born in Königsberg in East Prussia and studied painting at two German Academies for Women Artists – first in Berlin, then in Munich. She married Karl Kollwitz, a doctor working with the poor, and had two sons. She lost her youngest son during the First World War, where he volunteered to join the German army and was killed in battle. In 1919, she was the first woman ever to become a full member of the Prussian Art Academy and was made a professor. Later, the Nazi regime forced her to resign from her position, and in 1936 she was banned from exhibiting. However, she continued her practice as a graphic artist, draughtswoman and sculptor until her death, which came a few weeks before the end of the Second World War in 1945. In present-day Germany she ranks among the most famous figures of art and culture and has several squares and streets named after her. In recent years, her work has been shown at major exhibitions at leading venues such as MoMA in New York and the Städel Museum in Frankfurt. Käthe Kollwitz – Mensch is the first solo show with Kollwitz ever presented at a Danish museum.










Today's News

November 8, 2024

Eli Wilner Frames The Peacemakers for The White House

Tucson artist exhibits abstract works in Tubac Gallery + Tucson Open Studios

London's Apollo Art Auctions to host Nov. 17 e-sale of exquisite ancient art, cultural relics

Yambol hosts international airship exhibition celebrating local heritage

New exhibition showcases the printmaking career of one of the world's most renowned artists

Park Seo-Bo's final works debut in New York

Top highlights at Dorotheum's Contemporary Week

The ALBERTINA exhibits a representative selection of Jim Dine's generous donation

The Schirn presents the groundbreaking work of the compelling artist Hans Haacke

Sotheby's Modern Evening Auction to include major works by Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse and Alberto Giacometti

Berlin's Cultural Forum unveils "Cracked Up and Burnt Down" exhibition exploring five centuries of firework arts

American icons take center stage at Sotheby's marquee Contemporary auctions

Audrey Sands appointed Associate Curator of Photography at the Harvard Art Museums

Galerie Urs Meile opens the first solo exhibition by emerging Chinese painter Chen Zuo

SMK opens a major exhibition featuring one of the most seminal artists of the twentieth century

Exhibition offers a rare opportunity to explore the full scope of David Nash's engagement with drawing

British Museum confirms two major exhibitions for spring 2025

Guangdong Times Museum presents 'One Way Ashore, a Thousand Channels'

Solo exhibition by Alya Hatta opens at Pi Artworks

Exhibition features a newly commissioned multi-channel video installation produced by Lisa Reihana

A Beginner's Guide to Shooting Games: Level Up Your Skills with the CYMA M4 Gel Blaster Rifle

Samsung Designer Yongzun Wu: Pioneering AI Innovation

Wenrui Shi: Pioneering the Global Promotion and Education of Guqin Art

Ruiming Zhang: Pioneering New Directions in Chess Education with AI Innovation By Claire Hayes

Mistakes New Entrepreneurs Make and How to Fix Them

Arkfeld Pro LED flashlight




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
(52 8110667640)

Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez
Writer: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful