The People 1922

Käthe Kollwitz made this compelling image, The People, using woodcut techniques to carve the stark black and white design. You can almost feel the artist's hand at work, digging into the wood, each mark a deliberate act of creation. I bet Kollwitz had to be really physical with the material, hacking and cutting the surface to pull out these expressive faces from the darkness. The grain of the wood probably offered some resistance, so Kollwitz had to wrestle it into submission. Those sharp, angular lines, they're not just describing form, they’re communicating raw emotion. Look at the faces, some with their mouths agape, others with eyes closed, a whole spectrum of human experience etched in the wood. Kollwitz, like so many artists, was having a conversation with the world around her, responding to the political and social climate, using her art to give voice to the voiceless, and creating lasting images that can still speak to us.