Selbstbildnis Mit der Hand an der Stirn. Self Portrait with her hand to her Forehead by Käthe Kollwitz, 1867-1945

Käthe Kollwitz, 1867-1945
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Selbstbildnis Mit der Hand an der Stirn. Self Portrait with her hand to her Forehead

Original etching in black ink printed with plate tone. 1910. Signed in pencil. Proof on japan paper without the address of Richter and without the text line. Probabaly printed by Richter or Von der becke c.1925/30. Before the usual Von der Becke 1931 edition.
Ref: Klipstein - -Kollwitz Graphisches Werk no 106 (between iii and iv).

Excellent richly tonal impression with virtually no plate wear and printed with a strongly wiped and dramatic tone. On pale cream japan paper. Excellent condition (the faintest trace of an old mount). Wide margins. Sheet: 13 x 13 3/4ins. Plate: 6 1/8 x 5 1/4ins (154x 134mm).

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The Self-Portrait is one of the most important themes in Kollwitz's art. As a genre it is always very revealing of an artist's ideas; in the oeuvre of Kathe Kollwitz it became one of the most significant themes through which she could express her social, moral and aesthetic attitudes. Her earliest Self-Portrait was etched in the 1890's; by the 1910's to 20's it had come to be a dominant and frequently recurring motif, and a way in which she could emphasise her social thinking without transgressing the artistic and political conventions.

The Self-Portrait above is one of the most admired small-scale versions in her whole oeuvre. The handling of the line is fine, incisive and at the same time strongly tonal. In the manner in which it seems to model the whole surface of the paper it is typical of the strength and power of her draughtsmanship. In this work she manages to combine both detail and precision with a breadth of handling of the light which is one of the greatest strengths of her art. It is a remarkable example of the way in which she manages to unite graphic delineation and sculptural tone.