Caveau des Innocents, 1904

Kollwitz’ pastels of the Caveau des Innocents in Paris are among her most modern works. They show that she was familiar with the drawings of Edgar Degas and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and also with the paintings of Édouard Vuillard.

This pastel gives the most graphic description of the interior of the Caveau des Innocents. The gloomy cross-vault ceiling, the arched passageways and the cobbled floor are clearly discernible. A patron would have had to stoop to enter the tavern through the narrow entrance on the right.

study

Käthe Kollwitz, Man, standing, leaning his back against a wall, 1904, black chalk on laid paper, NT 275a