Käthe Kollwitz, Self-portrait with hand to forehead, 1910. Etching and drypoint on wove paper. 29.1 × 24.8 cm. Gift of Dr. Brian McCrindle, 2015.

Käthe Kollwitz: Art and Life

April 7, 2018 - September 30, 2018.

Located on the first floor in the Linda & Bob Krembil Pathway (Gallery 124), the Walter Trier Gallery (Gallery 139), the Nicholas Fodor Gallery (Gallery 140), Gallery 141, and the Esther & Arthur Gelber Treasury (Gallery 142).

This exhibition is included with General Admission.

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EXHIBITION OVERVIEW

Käthe Kollwitz (1867–1945), a leading 20th century German artist, was known for her drawings, prints (woodcuts, etchings and lithographs), and sculptures. Over a career spanning more than five decades in a largely male-dominated art world, Kollwitz developed powerful and emotional imagery based on her own experiences, her interactions with working-class women in Berlin, and her exposure to the horrors of two world wars.

In addition to her self-portraits, themes in Kollwitz’s work examine the lives and suffering of poor women, the intimate relationships between mothers and children, humanitarian and social issues, and her ongoing dialogue with death. Kollwitz designed prints and posters to protest poverty, hunger, and child mortality.

This exhibition celebrates the richness and depth of Kollwitz’s work and Dr. Brian McCrindle’s extraordinary donation to the AGO of 170 prints, drawings and sculptures by Kollwitz in 2015. This is one of the largest collections of the artist’s work outside Germany.

Organized by the Art Gallery of Ontario

ARTWORKS FORM THE EXHIBITION

Käthe Kollwitz, Woman with Dead Child, 1903 etching, drypoint and sandpaper on paper 41.8 x 48.7 cm Gift of Dr. Brian McCrindle, 2015.

kollwitz dead child

Käthe Kollwitz, Sleeping Child in the Lap of her Mother. Charcoal and wash with graphite on wove paper. 34.4 × 45.2 cm. Promised Gift of Dr. Brian McCrindle.

kollwitz sleeping child