Artist
Käthe Kollwitz 1867 – 1945
About the work
The etching draws attention to the social hardship faced by a working-class family and the effects of unemployment resulting from rapid industrialisation.
‘The longer I live, the more I understand the typical misfortune of working-class families. As soon as the man drinks or is ill and unemployed, it is always the same story. Either he hangs like a dead weight on his family [...] or he takes his own life,’ Käthe Kollwitz noted in her diary in 1908.
Year
1909
Material / Technique
Etching (line etching, drypoint, aquatint, sandpaper, soft ground with imprint of Ziegler's transfer paper)
Dimensions of the object
56,1 x 73,4 cm
Signature
sign. u. r.: Käthe Kollwitz; handschriftliche Signatur des Druckers u. l.: O. Felsing Berlin gedr.
Museum
Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz – Kunstsammlungen am Theaterplatz
Inventory no.
KH 550
Access
1917 Acquisition from Emil Richter, Dresden
Creditline
Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz
© gemeinfrei
Status
Not on display
Exhibitions
- Spuren der Nähe. Käthe Kollwitz und zeitgenössische Fotografie, Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz – Kunstsammlungen am Theaterplatz 07.5.2026 – 30.8.2026
Catalog raisonné
Knesebeck 104 VI
Year
1909
Material / Technique
Etching (line etching, drypoint, aquatint, sandpaper, soft ground with imprint of Ziegler's transfer paper)
Dimensions of the object
56,1 x 73,4 cm
Signature
sign. u. r.: Käthe Kollwitz; handschriftliche Signatur des Druckers u. l.: O. Felsing Berlin gedr.
Museum
Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz – Kunstsammlungen am Theaterplatz
Inventory no.
KH 550
Access
1917 Acquisition from Emil Richter, Dresden
Creditline
Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz
© gemeinfrei
Status
Not on display
If you would like to use an image of this object for your publication or project, please feel free to contact our cooperation partner bpk Bildagentur or us.
Do you have any questions or comments about the Digital Collection?
Then send us an e-mail at archiv.kunstsammlungen@stadt-chemnitz.de
