The People, sheet 7 of the series »War«, 1922

Woodcut, Kn 190 VII b

At the centre of this sheet is a woman who evokes the image of the Virgin of Mercy. A child peeps out from under the mantle which is only hinted at and holds its hands in front of his face in a protective gesture. Behind the figure of the woman, the distorted faces of desperate people emerge from the dark as they huddle up to her. They are the war victims who survived, albeit with emotional and physical wounds.

In her diary, Käthe Kollwitz wrote of her almost finished »War« series:

But my work has gone well this year and I am grateful for that. The war cycle is as good as finished. Insufficient and inadequate it may be, yet if you consider the work’s great task, it has come to a conclusion and completion.«
Käthe Kollwitz, Diaries, 30 December 1922

PREPARATORY WORKS

Käthe Kollwitz, The People, 1923, black crayon, NT 972, Cologne Kollwitz Collection © Käthe Kollwitz Museum Köln

Käthe Kollwitz, Blind People, 1922/1923, charcoal, NT 973, Cologne Kollwitz Collection © Käthe Kollwitz Museum Köln

Käthe Kollwitz, The People, 1923, pencil, NT 978, Cologne Kollwitz Collection © Käthe Kollwitz Museum Köln

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The People, sheet 7 of the series »War«, 1922

PREPARATORY WORKS