Die Gefangenen (The Prisoners)

1908

Not on view

Throughout her career, Kollwitz consistently exposed the exploitation of the working class, with a particular focus on depicting hardships experienced by women and children. Peasants’ War is based on a historical account of the German nobility’s brutality and the resultant revolts of 1524 and 1525. The series chronicles sexual violence and backbreaking labor under a repressive regime, the revolutionaries’ preparation for battle, and combat; it concludes with the uprising’s defeat. The Prisoners, the last print in the series, depicts captured fighters bound and compressed in a pen as they await their fate. Their writhing bodies blend into a mass, amplifying the sense of claustrophobia while also suggesting strength and future rebellion. Contemporary viewers would likely have related to the suffering shown here.

Artwork Details

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

Title: Die Gefangenen (The Prisoners)
Artist: Käthe Kollwitz (German, Kaliningrad (Königsberg) 1867–1945 Moritzburg)
Date: 1908
Medium: Etching
Dimensions: Sheet: 17 11/16 × 22 13/16 in. (45 × 58 cm)
Image: 12 3/16 × 16 5/16 in. (31 × 41.5 cm)
Classification: Prints
Credit Line: Gift of Richard and JoAnn Edinburg Pinkowitz, 2024
Object Number: 2024.69.99
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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The End

Käthe Kollwitz

1898

Woman with Bent Head (Gesenkter Frauenkopf)

Käthe Kollwitz

1905

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