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Image Not Available for Soldier's Wives Waving Good-Bye
Soldier's Wives Waving Good-Bye
Image Not Available for Soldier's Wives Waving Good-Bye

Soldier's Wives Waving Good-Bye

Artist Käthe Kollwitz (German, 1867-1945)
Date1937
MediumBronze
Dimensions12 1/4 x 10 x 6 in. (31.1 x 25.4 x 15.2 cm)
ClassificationsModern art
Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.
Object number71.2006
Terms
  • Bronze
On View
On view
DescriptionBronze sculpture of a group of soldiers' wives waving good-bye.

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