Minneapolis Institute of Art

Mary and Elizabeth

Käthe Kollwitz

Date

1928

Medium

Woodcut on Japan paper

Department

European Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Kollwitz created very few images that related directly to biblical themes, however it is quite in keeping with her oeuvre that in this case she chose to focus on the relationship between two mothers. In this print Mary greets her cousin Elizabeth who feels the child move in her womb. To create the sense that the two figures are united into a single form, Kollwitz utilized the grain of the wood plank. Her technique here was very different from the bold carving of the War series. In this case the forms appear to have been scraped along this grain and seem to emerge from the dark background Germany, Europe

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