33. Käthe Kollwitz
(1867-1945)
Selbstbildnis

(click on image to print)
Kollwitz, Selbstbildnis

Selbstbildnis

Lithograph, 1919, Klipstein 133 b (of d), 340 x 290 mm., ex collection: ZA.Hgbhf.Stuttgart (not in Lugt). Fine impression on wove paper with full, large margins, signed in pencil and dated 19, from the edition of 175; old glue stains at the corners of the sheet, far from the image. Most of those artists who create multiple self portraits across their careers are motivated less by egotism than by the study of humanity and the aging effects of life. Thus with Rembrandt; thus also with Kollwitz. That there was a serene beauty in her face is obvious. That she lived a tumultuous and tortured life through two world wars, a depression and the Nazi-domination of Germany is known to us. The portraits show gradually the ravages of that life. This superb portrait of 1919 shows a middle-aged woman, still handsome, still serene, not showing grief at the loss of a son in World War I. Instead, there is a feeling of steadfastness, of determination -- the face of a survivor. It is unquestionably one of the great self portraits in the history of print making.