星空传媒视频

Danica Ramos
345-101-MQ

Throughout history, art has had a variety of purposes. It could be used to tell a story or just to simply look beautiful. Kathe Kollowitz鈥檚 art however is used to encourage people to take action and is a form of protest. She depicts various perspectives allowing the audience to have a stronger connection to her art. Kollowitz uses intense emotion to instil a need to take action into the viewer. Her choice of medium allows her to disperse her anti-war ideas. Kollwitz’s approach to anti-war art is an effective form of protest.

Kathe Kollwitz depicts relatable perspectives, which are able to reach a larger audience. Often when looking at war time art, the same stereotypical image of a brave or grieving soldier is depicted. It is widely believed that since soldiers experience war firsthand, they are the only ones able to accurately depict it and its tragedies (Sharp 89). This offers a very polarized view on who is impacted. It does not take into account the rest of the population that is suffering because of the war. Due to the fact that men were mostly out fighting the war, Germany’s population at this time consisted primarily of women, many of which were mothers (Siebrecht 106). These individuals, like the soldiers, are greatly impacted by the war as a majority of the deaths consist of young men with 鈥渁lmost 40 percent of the German war dead were young men aged between 20 and 24鈥� (Siebrecht 106). This would mean that a majority of the German population would be struggling with the grief of the loss of a child, something Kollowitz herself is affected by. This pain and art were often swept aside as it comes from civilians, specifically women, rather than the soldiers (Sharp 89). This theme of grieving mothers can be seen through Kollwitz鈥檚 work. An illustration of this is in her drawing, 鈥楽tehende Mutter, S盲ugling ans Gesicht dr眉ckend鈥� (Standing Mother, Pressing Infant to her Face).

Different perspectives are shown, such as that of a mother and child, where the child in the art represents the soldiers to bring awareness to their youthfulness and innocence (Siebrecht 117). Kollwitz uses these perspectives to relate to a larger population, allowing her works to be seen and understood, therefore having a larger impact in spreading anti war ideas.

Kollwitz鈥檚 use of emotion captivates the viewer and allows a deeper sense of need for action. All of her works stem from her own pain and raw emotions. This comes from losing her 鈥渟on Peter, who was killed at the front in October 1914鈥� (Siebrecht 1). This loss profoundly affects Kollwitz as shown through her works consisting mainly of parents mourning their children. There are strong sentiments of sorrow and grief throughout all of her artwork, no matter the medium. One example is of her statues, Die trauernden Eltern (The Grieving Parents), which was made to commemorate her son who passed (Siebrecht 1).

Through the posture of these statues the viewer is given some insight to Kollwitz鈥檚 agony, despite their simplicity. The body language does volumes to demonstrate emotional pain, as they are bent over on their knees with their arms over their chests as if to protect or comfort themselves. The creation of these statues took an emotional toll on Kollwitz as her diaries reveal 鈥渢he process of creating the memorial was a painful one that was frequently interrupted by periods during which she felt overwhelmed by emotional distress and daunted by the magnitude of her self-appointed task鈥� (Siebrecht 1). Her use of emotion to show the truth is especially important with 鈥渞ight-wing forces [who] are appropriating the myth of a glorified war experience to boost nationalism and prepare for another war鈥� (Sharp 90). She pulls on personal emotions to work against propaganda and depict to the viewer a sense of wrong and injustice making them more likely to sympathize with anti-war ideas.

Kollwitz鈥檚 medium allows her the ability to disperse her critiques of the war quickly and easily. Her main mediums consist of woodcuttings, drawings and sometimes statues. Many of her works are displayed in places accessible by the public, allowing her art and thus her ideas to be seen. For example, her 鈥渕ajor work of the period 1919鈥�1925 was the cycle of woodcuts, War, completed in 1923 [is] published in Dresden in 1924 by the Emil Richter gallery鈥� (Murray 3). Another example is seen with the statues she created in memory of her son, which sit at 鈥渢he German military cemetery at Eesen Roggeveld in Flanders鈥� (Siebrecht 1). The location is important as the statues are seen by numerous other families visiting those they too have lost and could relate to her ideas. These ideas of anti-militarism are very prominent through her works, which are displayed and can be seen by the public.

To conclude, Kathe Kollwitz鈥檚 art is an effective form of protest. This is due to her different approach to war art, offering a civilian鈥檚 perspective rather than the one of a stereotypical glorified soldier. Her use of emotion allows the viewer to sympathize and stirs them to want to act while her medium allows her art to be widely seen. Overall, Kollwitz鈥檚 art efficiently works against propaganda to popularize anti-war ideas in the public.

Works Cited

Murray, Ann. K盲the Kollwitz: Memorialization as Anti-Militarist Weapon. MDPI, 2020. https://dc153.dawsoncollege.qc.ca:2137/article/e44fac46656a463aba547d14ad68dfd9.

Sharp, Ingrid. K盲the Kollwitz鈥檚 Witness to War: Gender, Authority, and Reception. Women in German Yearbook, 2011.

Siebrecht, Claudia. The Aesthetics of Loss: German Women鈥檚 Art of the First World War. Oxford University Press, 2013.