Woman Meditating II (Nachdenkende Frau II)
1920
Medium
lithograph
Dimensions
sheet: 59.6 x 44.2 cm (23 7/16 x 17 3/8 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Edward R. Gray
Accession Number
1985.19.2
Art Historical Context
Käthe Kollwitz's *Woman Meditating II (Nachdenkende Frau II)*, a poignant 1920 lithograph, captures the quiet intensity of introspection amid the shadows of post-World War I Germany. Created during the Weimar Republic's turbulent years, when Kollwitz grappled with personal loss—her son had died in the war—and broader social upheavals, the work reflects her lifelong empathy for the working class, women, and the human cost of hardship. As a leading figure in German Expressionism, Kollwitz used her art to convey raw emotion and social commentary, often elevating ordinary figures into symbols of r...
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...