Prints and drawings by German artist Käthe Kollwitz (1867-1945) will be shown for the first time in the National Gallery of Ireland. “Käthe Kollwitz: Life, Death and War” will give the Irish public an opportunity to discover this important woman artist who created almost 300 prints, around 20 sculptures and some 1,450 drawings during her long career. The exhibition will comprise 38 prints and drawings from the rich collection of the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Germany along with two lithographs from the National Gallery of Ireland’s collection. These powerful works will allow visitors to reflect on the effects of war, in particular the grief left in its wake. Sadly the works are just as relevant now as they were when created in the early twentieth century.
Kollwitz’s work reminds us of the horror and ultimate futility of war and the exhibition commemorates, in an indirect way, the centenary of WWI. Kollwitz’s five print cycles:
Revolt of the Weavers (1893-98),
Peasant War (1902-08),
War (1921-22),
Proletariat (1924-25) and
Death (1934-37) place her among the foremost printmakers of the twentieth century. Two of the print cycles
Peasant War and
War are included in this exhibition along with drawings and a number of honest self-portraits. These dark, moving prints can be seen as a poignant plea for the abolition of war and oppression for the sake of future generations.
Curator: Anne Hodge, National Gallery of Ireland
Opening hours:
Monday - Saturday: 9:15 am - 5:30 pm
Thursday: 9:15 am - 8:30 pm
Sunday: 11:00 am - 5:30 pm
The exhibition will be complemented by a wide-ranging programme of
lectures,
concerts and
film screenings.
An exhibition by the National Gallery of Ireland
Accompanying programme of events in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut Irland
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