Mutter mit Kind auf dem Arm. Mother with her Child in her Arms by Käthe Kollwitz, 1867-1945

Käthe Kollwitz, 1867-1945
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Mutter mit Kind auf dem Arm. Mother with her Child in her Arms

Original etching with tone work in brown-black ink. 1910. Signed in pencil. A rare early proof before the first issued edition, printed at the studio of Felsing and with his countersignature in pencil lower left. Before the plate was steel-faced.
Ref: Klipstein 110 iiib.

Beautiful rich impression with strong tone contrasts. On pale cream stiff wove paper. Generally excellent condition; a minor tear in the upper sheet margin edge repaired, 2? clear of the image. Plate area and inner margins excellent. Sheet: 14¾?x11?. Plate: 7 ¾?x5? (195x130 mm).

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An exceptional early proof, before the first issued edition, of one of Kollwitz?s most beautiful ?happy theme? etchings. The rich glowing contrasts of tone are particularly marked.

The theme of the mother and her child was absolutely central to Kollwitz?s art. She saw the relationship of the two figures as encapsulating the whole range of human emotions. However, the poverty and deprivation which she so constantly encountered as she followed her doctor husband?s work in the poorest areas of Berlin led her to also see the theme so often as a source of tragedy rather than joy. This study, etched in 1910, stands out as one of the earliest of her few happy and relaxed versions of the theme. At this date, before the tragedies of the First War, her own life with her young children was an expression of the real happiness of the relationship of mother and child, and in very many aspects this study is a self-portrait.

Strength of modelling, a sense of three-dimensional form, and the use of controlled exaggerations of shape are some of the qualities which make Kollwitz?s are so powerful. Linked to a happy theme, as here, they help to create an extremely moving imagery.