The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 25, 2024

Pregnant Woman Contemplating Suicide (recto) Three Studies of a Child (verso)

Pregnant Woman Contemplating Suicide (recto) Three Studies of a Child (verso)

c. 1926
(German, 1867–1945)
Germany, 20th century
black chalk or charcoal? (rubbed in places)
Sheet: 64.3 x 49.7 cm (25 5/16 x 19 9/16 in.)
Gift of The Print Club of Cleveland in honor of Leona E. Prasse 1962.291
Location: not on view

Description

Working in a frank but emotional naturalistic style far different from that of her contemporaries, Käthe Kollwitz depicted a pregnant woman who stands as a universal symbol of human grief. Just a few bold strokes of crayon relay the woman’s despair. After World War I, Kollwitz’s work focused on the sorrows of those left behind: the children, widows, and mothers who underwent loss, physical neglect, and economic hardship. Her focus on grief and despair in this and other works emerged especially after her youngest son, Peter, was killed in the first months of the war.
  • Private Collection, Boston
    [Robert M. Light, Boston (departmental cataloguing sheet)]; Private Collection, Boston (according to departmental card)
  • Cleveland Museum of Art, “New Accessions Put on Display at Art Museum,” July 9, 1963, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. archive.org
  • Graphic Discontent: German Expressionism on Paper. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (January 14-May 27, 2018).
    Directions in Drawing: 1750-1988. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 2-August 4, 1991).
    Cross Section: Graphic Art in Germany after the First World War. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 10, 1989-January 7, 1990).
    National Schools of Style. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 14-September 18, 1983).
    Käthe Kollwitz. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (May 13-July 13, 1980).
    The Print Club of Cleveland, 1919 - 1969: Fifty Years in Review. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (January 14-March 31, 1970).
    Prints and Drawings, 1916-1965. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 20-July 24, 1966).
    Year in Review (1963). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 27, 1963-January 5, 1964).
  • {{cite web|title=Pregnant Woman Contemplating Suicide (recto) Three Studies of a Child (verso)|url=false|author=Käthe Kollwitz|year=c. 1926|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1962.291