Käthe Kollwitz

German printmaker and sculptor Käthe Kollwitz was born in Königsberg, Germany (which is now Kaliningrad, Russia) in 1867. In 1881, she received her first art tuition from Rudolph Mauer in Königsberg. In 1885, she continued her training in Berlin under Karl Stauffer-Bern and in 1888 in Munich under Ludwig Herterich. The prints of Max Klinger had been brought to Kollwitz’s attention by Stauffer-Bern and she was so impressed with them that she gave up painting in 1890 to produce etchings and lithographs. Later, she began making woodcuts, as well.

Her first success came in Berlin in 1891. She produced a portfolio of three lithographs and three etchings titled “A Weavers’ Revolt”, which was inspired by Gerhard Hauptmann’s play “Die Weber”. Kollwitz joined the Berlin Secession and was later appointed to a teaching post at the Künstlerinnenschule. She died in Moritzburg, near Dresden in 1945.