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Tower of Mothers

Date1938

Maker Käthe Kollwitz German, 1867-1945

Label TextKollwitz first won acclaim as a printmaker in Berlin in the 1890s, before turning to sculpture in 1910. Inspired in part by her commitment to the workers' movement, her images focused on the human figure as an expressive form. This World War II era piece makes a powerful anti-war statement by focusing on the intense faces and gestures of women who want to keep their sons from war.

Object number58.82

Provenance[Galerie Alex Vomel, Dusseldorf, Germany]; purchased from gallery by Seattle Art Museum (Silver Anniversary Fund), August 5, 1958

Exhibition HistoryTacoma, Washington, Tacoma Art League, "Contemporary Sculpture," 1960 Tacoma, Washington, Tacoma Art League, "German Expressionists," 1962 Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, "Five Installations on the Fourth Floor: Unpretty Pictures", opened June 26, 1997 Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, "Anselm Kiefer and Germanic Tradition", June 4, 1999 - January 2, 2000 Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, "The Art of Protest" April 27, 2000 - January 21, 2001 Published ReferencesMcCausland, E. "Kathe Kollwitz," in PArnassus, FEbruary 1937, pp. 20-25

Credit LineSilver Anniversary Fund

Dimensions11 1/4 x 11 1/4 x 11 1/2 in. (28.58 x 28.58 x 29.21 cm)

MediumBronze