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  1. Collection/
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  3. The Parents
The Parents, Käthe Kollwitz, 1921–22 (published 1923)
Käthe Kollwitz, portraitKäthe KollwitzGerman, 1867–1945

The Parents

1921–22 (published 1923) · Print · 35.08 × 42.55 cm

May one see it?

Not receiving at present

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Minneapolis, United States

It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.

Checked
3 days ago
In this state since
Sep 25, 2026
Source
The museum
On the mapMuseum page

About the work

Kollwitz reworked the motif of the bereaved parents multiple times as both a print and a sculpture. She planned the sculpture to serve as a memorial to her son Peter who was killed in World War I. She struggled with this image and wrote in her journal, Yet again I am not finished with the War series. Done the sheet 'Parents' over again. Suddenly it looks entirely bad to me. Far too bright and hard and distinct. Pain is totally dark. Yet in the end, Kollwitz succeeded in capturing the grief of the bereaved parents that she knew only too well.

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Particulars

1921–22 (published 1923)
18671945
Accession number
P.71.142

In the catalog

PrintsWoodcutModernism20th centuryGermany

Sources

  • Minneapolis Institute of Art
  • Image: Minneapolis Institute of Art — © Minneapolis Institute of Art

Meanwhile, in the life of Käthe Kollwitz

The whole life
  1. 1918–1919

    The Working Council for Art and the Liebknecht memorial sheet

    A committed socialist and pacifist, eventually attracted to communism, she expressed her political and social sympathies in her woodcut memorial sheet for Karl Liebknecht and in her involvement with the Arbeitsrat für Kunst, part of the Social Democratic government in the first few weeks after the war.

  2. 1919

    The first woman professor at the Prussian Academy of Arts

    In 1919 she was appointed professor and elected a member of the Prussian Academy of Arts, the first woman to hold the post. Membership brought a regular income, a large studio and a full professorship.

  3. 1919–1925

    Destroys the first monument and begins again

    In 1919 she destroyed the monument to her son, and in 1925 she began again.

  4. 1924

    Her work at the “First General Exhibition of German Art”

    In 1924 her work was shown in Moscow at the “First General Exhibition of German Art”.

More by Käthe Kollwitz

All works
Weberzug (Ein Weberaufstand, Blatt 4), Käthe Kollwitz

Weberzug (Ein Weberaufstand, Blatt 4)

Albertina

Tod (Ein Weberaufstand; Blatt 2), Käthe Kollwitz

Tod (Ein Weberaufstand; Blatt 2)

Albertina

Not (Ein Weberaufstand; Blatt 1), Käthe Kollwitz

Not (Ein Weberaufstand; Blatt 1)

Albertina

Beim Arzt (Drei Flugblätter gegen den Wucher, Blatt 3), Käthe Kollwitz

Beim Arzt (Drei Flugblätter gegen den Wucher, Blatt 3)

Albertina

Beratung (Ein Weberaufstand; Blatt 3), Käthe Kollwitz

Beratung (Ein Weberaufstand; Blatt 3)

Albertina

Die Carmagnole, Käthe Kollwitz

Die Carmagnole

Albertina

Zertretene, Käthe Kollwitz

Zertretene

Kupferstich-Kabinett Dresden

Selbstbildnis und Studie zu einer Szene aus Germinal, Käthe Kollwitz

Selbstbildnis und Studie zu einer Szene aus Germinal

Kupferstich-Kabinett Dresden

Neighbors at Minneapolis Institute of Art

Museum page
Olive Trees, Vincent van Gogh, 1889

Vincent van Gogh

Olive Trees, 1889

Grainstack, Sun in the Mist, Claude Monet, 1891

Claude Monet

Grainstack, Sun in the Mist, 1891

Lucretia, Rembrandt van Rijn, 1666

Rembrandt van Rijn

Lucretia, 1666

Self-Portrait with Dr. Arrieta, Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes, 1820

Francisco de Goya

Self-Portrait with Dr. Arrieta, 1820

Study for Improvisation V, Vassily Kandinsky, 1910

Vasily Kandinsky

Study for Improvisation V, 1910

Tahitian Landscape, Paul Gauguin, 1891

Paul Gauguin

Tahitian Landscape, 1891

Chestnut Trees at Jas de Bouffan, Paul Cézanne, c. 1885–86

Paul Cézanne

Chestnut Trees at Jas de Bouffan, c. 1885–86

The Union of England and Scotland (Charles I as the Prince of Wales), Peter Paul Rubens, 1633–34

Peter Paul Rubens

The Union of England and Scotland (Charles I as the Prince of Wales), 1633–34