Käthe Kollwitz
March of the Weavers, 1893–1897
Line etching and sandpaper
Storming the Gate, 1893–1897
Line etching and sandpaper
End, 1893–1897
Line etching, aquatint, sandpaper and burnisher
Käthe-Kollwitz-Museum Berlin
Sheets 4 to 6 of the cycle “A Weaver’s Revolt”
The tavern scene with a “Conspiracy” (sheet 3) is set in motion, as indicated by the dynamic diagonal line from the left rear to the right front. The continuation of the action in the fourth sheet, “The Weavers’ March,” also develops along this diagonal. The climax and turning point of the plot is reached in sheet 5 with the ‘storming’ of the factory owner’s villa. It reaches its tragic “end” in sheet 6, also in a reversal of the previous direction of movement, with the deaths of the weavers’ revolt.