Käthe Kollwitz
PIETA
TITLE : PIETA
CREATOR: Käthe Kollwitz
COUNTRY AND LOCATION OF DISPLAY:BERLIN –
GERMANY
Describe
the work of art giving some information for its background.
A seated, cross-legged woman envelops the body of a child. The limp child,
head tipped far back, is clutched to the figure we assume is the mother. Her
features are mostly hidden by the child's body--except we see one closed eye
and her nose nestled into his skin. Also visible are her expressive eyebrows,
which silently communicate her explosive feelings. With her strong
arms--especially a strong, thick hand--she draws the child toward her even more
tightly.Her embrace is all-consuming. The mother's muscular leg forms the base of
the monolithic shape that confronts the viewer. Most of the lines the artist
uses to shape and shade the forms are aggressive, taut, and meaningful,
contributing energy to the surface. As a bit of relief from the overall grief
How does it
relate to the issues of bullying, isolation, discrimination or violence?
This etching is one of a series of drawings, charcoals, and etchings titled
"Woman with Dead Child," all produced in 1903. Kollwitz began the
series with works she called "Pieta"--Mary mourning her dead son. The
subject Kollwitz focused on, the mother mourning for the dead child, is not
based on any direct life experience: "Great piercing sorrows have not
struck me yet" she wrote in her diary (The Diary and Letters of Käthe
Kollwitz, Northwestern University Press, Evanston, 1988), but she was not to
escape "great piercing sorrows" much longer. Her son Peter, who at
age seven posed for the dead child in this etching, was killed in World War I
at the age of twenty-one and a grandson Peter was killed in World War II.
Describe
different emotions you have when you see this work of art.
It makes me
getting strong emotional feelings and motivate me to help …
Why did you
choose this piece to represent your country? What made you like it so much?
It´s strong
related to our history.
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