Käthe Kollwitz

March 31, 2024 – July 20, 2024

The Museum of Modern Art

The Museum of Modern Art announces the first-ever New York City museum retrospective devoted to Käthe Kollwitz, and the largest exhibition of her work in the United States in more than 30 years. On view at MoMA from March 31 through July 20, 2024, Käthe Kollwitz will present a focused exploration of the artist’s career in approximately 110 rarely seen examples of her drawings, prints, and sculptures drawn from public and private collections in the US and Europe. Organized chronologically, the exhibition will trace the development of Kollwitz’s work from the 1890s through the 1930s, a period of unprecedented turmoil in German history marked by the social ills of industrialization in the late 19th century and the traumas of war and political upheaval in the early 20th century. Crucial examples of the artist’s most important projects will showcase her commitment to socially critical subject matter, and key selections of preparatory studies and working proofs will highlight her creative process.

Käthe Kollwitz is organized by Starr Figura, Curator, with Maggie Hire, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Drawings and Prints.

The exhibition is made possible by Denise Littlefield Sobel.

Leadership support is provided by the Eyal and Marilyn Ofer Family Foundation.

Major funding is provided by the Dian Woodner Exhibition Endowment Fund.

Generous support is provided by The International Council of The Museum of Modern Art and by the Robert Lehman Foundation.

Additional funding is provided by David Bushler.

Major support for the publication is provided by The Museum of Modern Art’s Research and Scholarly Publications endowment established through the generosity of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Edward John Noble Foundation, Mr. and Mrs. Perry R. Bass, and the National Endowment for the Humanities’ Challenge Grant Program.

The Bloomberg Connects digital experience is made possible through the support of Bloomberg Philanthropies.

Press Kit

Images

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Käthe Kollwitz, The Parents (Die Eltern) from War (Krieg), 1921–22, published 1923. One from a portfolio of seven woodcuts. Composition (irreg.): 13 13/16 x 16 3/4″ (35.1 x 42.5 cm); sheet (irreg.): 18 5/8 x 25 11/16″ (47.3 x 65.3 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of the Arnhold Family in memory of Sigrid Edwards. Digital Image © 2024 The Museum of Modern Art, New York, photo by Robert Gerhardt

Käthe Kollwitz. Woman with Dead Child (Frau mit totem Kind). 1903. Etching with chine collé. Plate: 16 1/4 × 18 9/16″ (41.2 × 47.1 cm); sheet: 21 7/16 × 27 11/16″ (54.5 × 70.3 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Acquired through the generosity of the Contemporary Drawing and Print Associates. Digital image © 2024 The Museum of Modern Art, New York, photo by Robert Gerhardt

Käthe Kollwitz, Self-Portrait en Face (Selbstbildnis en face), c.1904. Lithograph. Composition: 17 5/16 x 13 3/8″ (44 x 34 cm); sheet: 18 7/8 × 13 3/8″ (47.9 × 34 cm). Jointly owned by The Museum of Modern Art, New York (The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Endowment for Prints, and gift of Jack Shear, Marlene Hess and James D. Zirin, Alice and Tom Tisch [in honor of Marlene Hess], Kathy and Richard S. Fuld, Jr., Emily Rauh Pulitzer, Maud I. Welles, Ronnie Heyman [in honor of Marlene Hess], and Carol and Morton Rapp) and Neue Galerie New York (Gift of Jo Carole and Ronald S. Lauder). Digital Image © 2024 The Museum of Modern Art, New York, photo by Robert Gerhardt

Käthe Kollwitz, Self-Portrait en Face with Right Hand (Selbstbildnis en face mit rechter Hand). c. 1900. Pastel on paper, 24 15/16 × 19 3/16″ (63.3 × 48.8 cm). Private Collection, Germany. © Kienzle | Oberhammer

Käthe Kollwitz. Female Nude, from Behind, on Green Cloth (Weiblicher Rückenakt auf grünem Tuch). 1903. Crayon and brush lithograph with scraping needle, printed in two colors on brown paper. Composition: 22 13/16 x 17 15/16″ (58 x 44 cm); sheet: 24 x 18 ¼” (61 x 46.3 cm). Kupferstich-Kabinett, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden. © Kupferstich-Kabinett, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, photo: Herbert Boswank

Käthe Kollwitz. Woman with Dead Child (Frau mit totem Kind). 1903. Brown and blue pastel on paper. 18 15/16 × 23″ (48.1 × 58.4 cm). Käthe Kollwitz Museum Cologne. Image courtesy Käthe Kollwitz Museum Cologne

Käthe Kollwitz. Woman with Dead Child (Frau mit totem Kind). 1903. Line etching, drypoint, and sandpaper, with imprint of laid paper and Ziegler’s transfer paper, overworked with charcoal and blue wash, heightened with white. Sheet (trimmed to and within plate mark): 16 5/16 × 18 5/8″ (41.5 × 47.3 cm). Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT. Gift of Molly and Walter Bareiss. Image © Yale University Art Gallery

Käthe Kollwitz. The Mothers (Mütter). 1918. Line etching, sandpaper, needle bundle, and soft ground with the imprint of laid paper overworked with black ink, opaque white, charcoal, and pencil. Plate: 9 5/8 x 12 1/2″ (24.5 x 31.8 cm); sheet 12 5/8 x 16 5/16″ (32 x 41.4 cm). Collection Ute Kahl, Cologne. Fuis Photographie

Käthe Kollwitz. Never Again War! (Nie wieder Krieg!). 1924. Crayon and brush lithograph. Composition: 37 x 30″ (94 x 68.5 cm); sheet 37 3/16 x 28 ¼” (94.5 x 71.8 cm). Käthe-Kollwitz-Museum Berlin/Association of Friends of Käthe-Kollwitz-Museum Berlin. © Käthe-Kollwitz-Museum Berlin/Association of Friends of the Käthe-Kollwitz-Museum Berlin

Käthe Kollwitz. The Lovers (Liebesgruppe). 1913. Plaster. 29 ¼ x 18 x 19″ (74.3 x 45.7 x 48.3 cm). Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Hyman W. Swetzoff in memory of Mr. and Mrs. Solomon Swetzoff. Photograph © 2024 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Käthe Kollwitz. Death Woman and Child (Tod, Frau und Kind). 1910. Line etching, drypoint, sandpaper, and soft ground with the imprint of laid paper and Ziegler’s transfer paper, overworked in pencil and black ink. Plate: 15 7/8 x 16″ (40.4 X 40.7 cm); sheet: 16 15/16 x 16 15/16″ (43 x 43 cm). Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles. Partial gift of Dr. Richard A. Simms. Image courtesy Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles

Käthe Kollwitz. Mother, Clutching Two Children (Mutter, zwei Kinder an sich pressend). 1932. Charcoal on paper. 25 3/8 x 19″ (64.4 x 48.3 cm). Käthe Kollwitz Cologne. Image courtesy Käthe Kollwitz Museum Cologne

Installation view of Käthe Kollwitz, on view at The Museum of Modern Art from March 31, 2024 through July 20, 2024. Photo: Jonathan Dorado.