Käthe Kollwitz

Self Portrait, hand at forehead

Maker

Käthe Kollwitz (German, 1867-1945)

Title

Self Portrait, hand at forehead

Year

ca. 1910, published 1918

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

etching

Supports

Dimensions

15.2 x 13.6 cm (6 x 5 3/8 inches) (plate)

Identification

State

18/50. Kn. 109, state IIe

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Anonymous gift

Object Number

2005.142.38

Type

Exhibition History

A Process of Protest
Prints and Drawings of Käthe Kollwitz
Jul 28, 2006 – Nov 26, 2006

Label copy

Kollwitz was 43 in 1910. In this self-portrait, like most of those after 1900, she concentrated on her face and hands, representing herself without indicating a setting. She was fascinated with the expressive qualities of hands throughout her life, having admired the works of Old Masters such as Albrecht Dürer, whose compositions of hands she studied at the Kupferstichkabinett (Cabinet of Prints and Drawings), Berlin. She wrote in her personal journal, “only the total attitude and the face and hands speak to me.” [Entry of October 15, 1919]

Image use

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Tombstone

Käthe Kollwitz (German, 1867-1945)
Self Portrait, hand at forehead, ca. 1910, published 1918
Etching and drypoint
15.2 x 13.6 cm (6 x 5 3/8 inches) (plate)
Anonymous gift 2005.142.38

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