Käthe Kollwitz
Need, 1893–1897
Crayon and brush lithography, scraper and scraper needle
Death, 1893–1897
Crayon, pen and brush lithography, scraper and scraper needle
Conspiracy, 1893–1897
Crayon lithography, scraper and scraper needle
Käthe-Kollwitz-Museum Berlin
Sheets 1 to 3 of the cycle “A Weavers’ Revolt”
Käthe Kollwitz constructed her series “A Weavers’ Revolt” using a dramatic structure similar to that of a play, even though the sequence of images does not follow the classic five-act structure of theater. The artist depicts the weavers’ miserable situation in two sheets (“Need,” “Death”) – just as Gerhart Hauptmann (1862–1946) dedicates two acts to it, also in an anti-classical manner. It is important to both artists to evoke sympathy in the audience for the plight of the weavers.