Customer Reviews

Kathe Kollwitz

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I am slowly but surely collecting books on Kollwitz. One of my art professors compared what I was doing to her work and I have since become a nicely obsessed student of everything she did and I read everything I can get my hands on.

This book is one of the best. First of all, I didn't have to get out my German lexicon and second, the narratives that go along with the many pictures are full of detail that you don't get in the smaller books. One of the major improvements that you will see is in her work, "Woman with Dead Infant." In many books it appears that the woman's face is melting in to the child, but in Prelinger's narrative, you see much more detail of the nude, vulnerable woman and her child with little covering up his bones.

She has many works-- mostly lithographs-- in colour, which is a delight after havimg only seen her work in other books as black and white.

One of her works, "Man Kneeling before a Female Nude" shocked me by it's erotic overtones, just as "Self Portrait en face, Laughing" shocked me with it's joy.

Kollwitz was very much a versatile artist and this book shows that. Any fan of Kollwitz will appreciate the narratives that go with the pictures, and for anyone who isn't a fan-- this book will make them fans!

Kollwitz's lithographs captivate any feeling viewer. Until there's some way to render raw emotion on paper, especially the many different sorrows of war and poverty, her monochrome lithos approach that goal most closely. That makes it easy to forget her mastery of other media and other feelings, too. This book broadens a reader's view of this wonderful artist.

The cover image, "Female Nude with Green Shawl," starts to break the reader free from the easy stereotype of Kollwitz. It adds color to her commonly dark palette, and presents a simple celebration of womanly elegance. "Self-portrait laughing" and "Lovers" show that she could not only express joy, but depict different kinds of it. Woodcuts, etchings, charcoals, ink and wash, and wonderful pastels each display her drawing ability in different ways. "Tower of Mothers," "Mourning Parents," "Lovers," and other sculptures show her skill in bronze, granite, and plaster. Kollwitz's skills range far beyond what she's best known for, and this book helps us appreciate the breadth of that ability.

Given so many reproductions of her work, lovingly printed on bright, dense paper, a reader like me becomes easily distracted away from the helpful and informative text of the book. Three long essays, a catalog, timeline, and bibliography invite the reader to various kind of commentary, both in historical fact and in considered opinions. Her personal story as woman, mother, and artist as well as her work deserve attention; this gorgeous volume is a wonderful way to give her work and life some of the attention they deserve.

-- wiredweird