Max Liebermann
Portrait of Gerhart Hauptmann
1892
Pastel
Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz
Käthe Kollwitz had already met Gerhart Hauptmann (1862–1946) before she saw the premiere of his drama “Die Weber” (The Weavers) on stage in 1893. The two had probably met before she began her studies in Berlin in 1886/87. During that winter semester, the aspiring artist was presumably invited several times to the home of the then still unknown poet in Erkner near Berlin. A loose correspondence developed between the two until 1943.