Charcoal on paper. Featuring a study of a woman's face. Signed Kathe Kollwitz on the lower right corner. Inscribed 78 and stamped BOHLER Auktion on verso. Attributed to Kathe Kollwitz (1867-1945, German). 20 x 28.5 cm (7.75 x 11 inches). PROVENANCE: Southern Ontario estate

Kathe Kollwitz (1867-1945) was a German artist whose Expressionistic prints, woodcuts, and sculptures empathetically portrayed human suffering. Capturing the anguish and plight of the impoverished and injured in a country torn apart by armed conflict, Kollwitz herself suffered numerous losses during the wars—including the death of her youngest son in World War I. “It is my duty to voice the sufferings of humankind, the never-ending sufferings heaped mountain high,” she once stated. “This is my task, but it is not an easy one to fulfill.” Born on July 8, 1867 in Königsberg (now Kaliningrad), Prussia, Kollwitz showed a high aptitude for drawing at an early age, and studied at the Women’s Academy in both Berlin and Munich, where she became captivated by the work of Peter Paul Rubens. Her series of etchings The Weavers (1898) first brought her critical attention, and she joined the Berlin Secession from 1901 until 1913 alongside its notable members Emil Nolde, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, and Max Beckmann. A lifelong pacifist, the artist’s work served as a pointed social and political critique of nationalism. Later in life, she faced persecution at the hands of the Nazi Regime, but was undaunted in her creative output. Kollwitz died on April 22, 1945 in Moritzburg, Germany at the age of 77. Today, her works are included in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Käthe Kollwitz Museum in Berlin, and the Albertina in Vienna, among others.

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