The artwork, titled “Woman with Dead Child,” was created by Kathe Kollwitz in 1903. This etching falls within the Expressionist art movement and represents a symbolic and figurative genre. The piece is currently housed in the Academy of Arts of Berlin, located in Berlin, Germany.
The artwork depicts an intimate and emotionally charged scene of a grieving woman holding a lifeless child. The woman’s posture and the gentle cradling of the child convey profound sorrow and maternal anguish. Kollwitz employs a stark and powerful use of line to emphasize the texture and emotion of the subjects. The raw and expressive quality of the etching vividly captures the theme of loss and the universal pain of a mother’s bereavement, making it a striking example of Expressionism and its ability to convey deep emotional and psychological states.