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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