Mother with Child 1933

Kathe Kollwitz’s ‘Mother with Child’ emerges from a flurry of charcoal marks, smudged and layered to conjure a poignant scene. The composition centres around a mother holding her child, their bodies intertwined in a tender embrace. I can imagine Kathe, bent over the paper, pushing and pulling the charcoal to find the weight and warmth of the embrace. There’s something so raw and immediate in the marks, like she’s trying to capture a fleeting moment of connection. The charcoal is applied with varying degrees of pressure, creating a rich tapestry of tones that give volume to the figures. The strokes around the mother’s back and arms are particularly expressive, suggesting movement and support. You can almost feel the softness of her hair against her neck. I see echoes of other artists grappling with similar themes, like Paula Modersohn-Becker, but Kollwitz brings her own fierce empathy to the subject. It’s a reminder that artists are always in dialogue with one another, building upon the insights of those who came before. We are left with a sense of the universal human experience of love, loss, and resilience.