The People (Das Volk)
1922/1923
Medium
woodcut, touched with opaque white watercolor on Japan paper [trial proof]
Dimensions
image: 36 x 30 cm (14 3/16 x 11 13/16 in.) sheet: 37.5 x 36.3 cm (14 3/4 x 14 5/16 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1943.3.5229
Art Historical Context
Käthe Kollwitz's *The People (Das Volk, created around 1922–1923, captures the raw struggles of the working class during the turbulent Weimar Republic era in Germany. Following World War I, the country grappled with hyperinflation, unemployment, and social upheaval, themes central to Kollwitz's Expressionist oeuvre. As a pioneering female artist and committed socialist, she drew from own experiences in working-class Berlin to portray the dignity and despair of ordinary folk, often elevating printmaking to a powerful tool for social commentary. This trial proof woodcut, enhanced with touches o...
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...