Kathe Kollwitz - ICON Gallery

After a thought provoking day at the 10th annual Conference for Chinese Visual Art, delegates and speakers were invited to an evening viewing of 'Portrait of the Artist: Käthe Kollwitz' at the ICON gallery in Birmingham.  

Käthe Kollwitz (1867–1945) was one of the leading artists of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, notable for the emotional power of her drawing, printmaking and sculpture.

Without knowing anything about her work, this particular print 'Unemployment 1909' is mesmerising.  First drawn in by the tiny new born child in the woman's arms, it looks like a photographic collage, until you take a closer look.  Once drawn in and examining the whole scene and seeing two further young children sleeping on the bed, the dark outline of the man sitting next to the bed,  his burden hanging on his shoulders is visible.  

Kollwitz, as an artist worked hard for the equality for women in all walks of life, she believed that art could be a force for good in society.  It's interesting that she was known by some of the Chinese students on the MA, but this was the first I had seen her work.  Could her socialist and political interest be the reason that her work is well known in China?