Kate Kollwitz was an exceptional artist who transformed emotions and experiences into art. Kollwitz art is the reflection of civilian victims and the pain war has brought upon individuals and society as a whole. Kollwitz expressed the devastating effects that war brought upon people, and the lives and souls that were destroyed and shattered. Through Kollwitz art, she stands against war to protect human lives, and not only does she raise conscious to others about the effects of war, but reveals the injustice and how inhumane war was.

Before Kollwitz became opposed to war in great ways, her religion and socialism anchored her motifs and commitment for a social growth and a world that depicted the beauty she saw in art, which was the freedom …show more content…
The overview of Kollwitz seven wood cuffs clearly demonstrate the actions and effects war has had on civilians. The first plate called “The Sacrifice”; Kollwitz shows the torn desire mother’s are faced with in having to let their sons leave to war, which in her second plate “Volunteers” shows the young men walking into death, and a mother’s duty to protect their child. Kollwitz also represents “The Widow” in fourth and fifth plate where you can see the woman looking away, protecting her unborn baby. This plate illustrates how the women lived and felt in this time period. In Kollwitz first Window plate she simply illustrates the mother who is pregnant, and you can see through her hands and facial expression that she is suffering and already in pain; because she is giving birth to a child that she will sacrifice, or a child that will be born in a broken community; where all individuals are suffering and in pain from the war. In Widow 2, Kollwitz sixth plate illustrate that the child has died, and whether it be from the war or from the depleted nation, the suffering and pain never end (Sharp). Kollwitz absorbed peoples experience and transformed them into art. Kollwitz would sit in her husbands waiting room at the hospital and listen to the women’s pain; and transfer those experiences into art. Kollwitz only purpose was to …show more content…
The cycle of war previously discussed does not only show emotions and experiences, but predicts and prescribes what war does and that no matter which direction you turn; the pain will be the same. As Kollwitz’s art evolved, and life around her stayed in constant pain and despair, her purpose of her art formed an opposition to war. As Shakes says “Kollwitz bitterness and hatred of war mounted” (261). Her art became a definite hammer as her socialist personality evolved when she had enough suffering and devastation. “The Dead Mother” illustrates the women of this time period lost in their thoughts and in their reason to live. It strongly reveals how this world has had enough of suffering, pain and death. Kollwitz’s anti-war postcards called “Never again War” showed her increasing hatred towards war and her firm opposition to war itself. Kollwitz became a rebellion herself through her grief and suffering of her lifetime. She produced lithograph postcards called “The Survivors”, and passed them around to others (Siskin). In this lithograph, you can see a woman in the center, surrounded by children and in the background men. The men are injured and through the use of bandage you can see the pain on their faces. The mother and children’s eyes are filled with black, perhaps describing the emptiness war has brought to the survivors. Kollwitz use of thick