Soldier's Wives Waving Good-Bye
Artist
Käthe Kollwitz
(German, 1867-1945)
CultureGerman
Date1937
MediumBronze
Dimensions12 1/4 x 10 x 6 in. (31.1 x 25.4 x 15.2 cm)
InscribedSigned & inscribed: "Novack, Berlin".
Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.
Object number71.2006
Collections
On View
Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 220
Label TextKäthe Kollwitz German, 1867–1945 Soldiers' Wives Waving Goodbye, 1937 Bronze As these weeping women send their husbands off to war, their bodies join into a solitary mass, heavy with the weight of their shared loss. A committed socialist and pacifist, Käthe Kollwitz focused her works on the economic misery and political despair of downtrodden subjects, especially women. One of her most frequent themes was the tragic cost of war. Having lost a son in World War I, she understood these costs first-hand, and in works like this one she imparted her empathy for the powerless and dispossessed. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.2006 Exhibition History"Women of the Chrysler: a 400-Year Celebration of the Arts," Large Changing Gallery, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., March 24 - July 18, 2010.
