Framed; chalk sketch of mother's hand verso

Mother with Dead Child, 1911

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In 1910 Kollwitz began exploring the theme of motherhood and death in a series of heart-rending studies of a woman and her dead child. The final image, an etching with the title Death, Woman and Child from 1911, depicts a woman desperately holding on to her lifeless child as the bony arm of Death comes to snatch him away. In this preparatory drawing, Kollwitz leaves out the skeletal hand and the struggle for the child's body to focus instead on the woman's loving embrace of her child. Kollwitz's ability to express extremes of emotion and pathos is clear in this powerful drawing, which makes allusions to a Christian Piéta, a devotional image of the dead Christ on Mary's lap.

Details
Title
Mother with Dead Child
Artist Life
1867–1945
Role
Artist
Accession Number
91.131.2
Provenance
John E. Andrus III, Wayzata, Minn.; given to MIA, 1991.
Catalogue Raisonne
See Klipstein 118
Curator Approved

This record is from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator, so may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@artsmia.org.

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Framed; chalk sketch of mother's hand verso