Selected Works from the Ute Kahl Collection
The Käthe Kollwitz Museum in Berlin is delighted to be able to show 40 selected drawings and rare prints from the important private collection of Ute Kahl. The special exhibition Silent Strength focuses on the sensitive side of Käthe Kollwitz’s work—the aspect that continues to lend her works a special emotional depth and appeal to this day.
Silent Strength – Empathy in the Work of Käthe Kollwitz
The special exhibition is devoted to a theme that runs through Käthe Kollwitz’s work like a quiet but steady stream: the sensitivity of the gaze, the humanity in expression, the quiet inner strength.
Well-known works such as the graphic cycle A Weaver’s Revolt (1898), the Peasants’ War series (after 1900), the forceful poster Never Again War (1924), and the sculpture Pietà (1938), which today stands enlarged in the Neue Wache in Berlin as a memorial, are an integral part of the art-historical canon. But behind these iconic images lies an often overlooked aspect: Käthe Kollwitz’s ability to detach strong emotions such as worry, grief, despair, or quiet resignation from any specific historical context and translate them into a universal visual language.
Female figures as a reflection of the soul
Individual female figures often appear in Käthe Kollwitz’s works as bearers of human emotions. They appear without narrative embellishment, reduced to gestures and postures that appear all the more intense. This focus on the essential gives the prints a timelessness that has lost none of its emotional power even after more than a hundred years.
A passionate collector – Ute Kahl
Cologne-based collector Ute Kahl discovered Käthe Kollwitz’s art through the print Mütter (Mothers, 1919). This work left a lasting impression on her and marked the beginning of a collection that now encompasses all phases of the artist’s work and is of museum quality. Convinced that art of such significance must be accessible to the public, she generously makes loans available – as she has done for this exhibition in Berlin.
Kollwitz today – Intimacy through emotion
How can art that is often rendered in black and white and dates from a period of labor unrest around 1900 still resonate with contemporary viewers?
The answer lies in the emotional directness of her works. Younger people in particular react spontaneously to the expressiveness of the figures – to their grief, their strength, their quiet perseverance. This immediacy builds bridges between generations and shows that Käthe Kollwitz’s themes – humanity, suffering, courage, and compassion – are still relevant today.
From movement to stillness – from pain to strength
Following the exhibition Mit Händen sprechen (2020, Speaking with Hands), which focused on the expression of hands in the work of Käthe Kollwitz, Silent Strength turns its attention to moments of pause: situations in which pain gives rise to new strength, or in which the gaze turns inward – contemplative, observant, resigned.
In the drawings and state prints on display, we experience Käthe Kollwitz as a seriously inquiring, self-critical, and deeply human artist. Her many revisions and variations are evidence of a persistent struggle for expression and truthfulness – and today they provide fascinating insights into her artistic practice.
Fotos: © Sammlung Ute Kahl, Köln
Thanks to the collector
It is thanks to the generosity of Ute Kahl that these precious sheets are not hidden away in private art collections, but can unfold their effect in the dimmed light of the museum. Her contribution makes it possible to rediscover Käthe Kollwitz’s work—as a timeless language of compassion, dignity, and humanity.
An accompanying publication will be released to accompany the exhibition.