Käthe Kollwitz

German painter and sculptor

The painter and sculptor Käthe Kollwitz (1867-1945) was born as Käthe Schmidt in Königsberg, Germany, on 8 July 1867. Kollwitz took drawing lessons in Köningsberg and studied at the Berlin School for Female Artists. After short stays in Munich and Köningsberg, she moved to Berlin and married the medic Karl Kollwitz.

Berlin Secession

In the beginning of her career Käthe Kollwitz encountered many difficulties. In those days women could not start a successful career easily. In 1893, the jury of the Great Berlin Art Exhibition rejected her work. Six years later Käthe Kollwitz entered the Berlin Secession.
In 1903 she began to work on her "Peasants' War" cycle and a year later she moved to Paris, where she studied at the Academy of Julian for a short while. Kollwitz became acquainted with the famous sculptor August Rodin. In 1910 she created her first sculptural works.
During the First World War Käthe Kollwitz lost her son, who died in Flanders.

Prussian Art Academy

After the war Käthe Kollwitz was appointed to the Prussian Art Academy. She would keep this position until 1933. Her important woodcut "Memorial to Karl Liebknecht" was created in 1921. She participated in the first exhibition of German art in the Sovjet Union in 1924.

Second World War

In 1936, after the Nazis came into power, Käthe Kollwitz could not exhibit anymore. In 1942 she evacuated to Nordhausen and a year later she moved to Moritzburg near Dresden.
Käthe Kollwitz died in Moritzburg on 22 April 1945.

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