The Mothers: Käthe Kollwitz

Die Mütter

Käthe Kollwitz's The Mothers (Die Mütter), created between 1921 and 1923, is a woodcut print from her "War" (Krieg) portfolio. Inspired by the loss of her son in World War I, it depicts a group of mothers forming a protective barrier around their children, symbolizing their desperate attempts to shield them from the horrors of war. The tightly clustered figures and their anxious expressions convey the universal grief and fear experiences by mothers facing conflict. The work transcends specific time and place, focusing on the enduring human cost of war.

“Käthe Kollwitz. The Mothers (Die Mütter) from War (Krieg). 1921–22, Published 1923 | MoMA.” The Museum of Modern Art, Emil Richter, Dresden, www.moma.org/collection/works/69687.

1921-22

1923

War, Cost of

Woodcut

The student curator has determined that the work is within the public domain as it was created in 1922.

Gift of the Arnhold Family in memory of Sigrid Edwards.

composition (irreg.): 13 1/2 x 15 3/4" (34.3 x 40 cm);
sheet (irreg.): 18 9/16 x 26 1/8" (47.2 x 66.4 cm)