In the early 20th century, when many artists were experimenting with abstraction by way of colourful painting, Kathe Kollwitz remained committed to an art of social purpose through figurative, black-and-white printmaking and drawing. Through her work, she brought visibility to the hardships of the working class and asserted the female point of view as a necessary and powerful agent for change.

Published in conjunction with the largest exhibition of her work in the United States in more than 30 years, and the first major retrospective devoted to Kollwitz at a New York museum, this book surveys the artist's career from the 1890s through the early 1940s. It features approximately 120 drawings, prints and sculptures drawn from public and private collections in Europe and North America. Examples of the artist's most iconic projects showcase her political engagement, while rarely seen studies and working proofs highlight her intensive, ever-searching creative process. Essays explore crucial aspects of Kollwitz's art, career and legacy, including her professional life and connections in Berlin, her groundbreaking approach to the subject of women's grief and her work's reception among artists in the US.

Edited by Starr Figura
Hardback
248 pages
27.4 x 23.6cm