Join curators Jay A. Clarke and Brenda Rix for a conversation about the work of Käthe Kollwitz (1867–1945), a leading 20th century German artist , as they discuss why Kollwitz’s art is so timely and resonant today. In times of crisis we are faced with difficult realities such as death, loss, isolation and oppression. Kollwitz addressed these issues in haunting images of suffering and protest which also offer hope and consolation.

Jay A. Clarke is Rothman Family Curator of Prints and Drawings at the Art Institute of Chicago. She was the Manton Curator of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Mass. from 2009 to 2018 where she also taught graduate seminars in the Graduate Program in Art History at Williams College. Her many publications include Becoming Edvard Munch: Influence, Anxiety, and Myth (2009). Most recently she contributed the essay “Kollwitz, Gender, Biography and Social Activism” to the publication Käthe Kollwitz. Prints, Process, Politics (2020). She received her master’s degree and doctorate from Brown University.

Brenda Rix has been a member of the AGO’s curatorial team since the early 1980s and is currently Manager, Print & Drawing Study Centre. Rix has curated numerous exhibitions for the AGO. Most recently, she wrote the publication, Käthe Kollwitz: According to the Truth (2018) and curated three installations based on a 2015 donation of Kollwitz works (170 prints, drawings and sculptures). She holds a master’s degree in art history from the University of Toronto.