Beggars

Art Historical Context

Käthe Kollwitz’s 1924 charcoal drawing *Beggars* offers a powerful glimpse into the human cost of social upheaval. Created during Germany’s Weimar Republic, when hyperinflation and widespread poverty gripped the nation after World War I, the work reflects Kollwitz’s lifelong focus on the struggles of the working class and the marginalized. Her expressive, figurative style—rooted in realism yet charged with emotional intensity—makes the figures feel immediate and deeply human. Rendered in charcoal on a modest sheet measuring roughly 15 by 11 inches, the medium allows Kollwitz to exploit rich c...

About the Artist

Käthe Kollwitz

Käthe Kollwitz (1867–1945) was a German artist whose powerful images of poverty, war, and maternal grief established her as the foremost practitioner of socially engaged art in early 20th-century Europe. Working primarily in printmaking—including etching, lithography, and woodcut—as well as drawing and sculpture, Kollwitz created works of raw emotional power that gave voice to the suffering of wor...