The Survivors 1923

Käthe Kollwitz made this lithograph, The Survivors, in 1923. It's all about the starkness of black and white, the scratching and clawing of the lines building up these haunted faces. You can feel the process, right? The texture is raw, like grief made visible. Look at the way she renders the eyes, those deep sockets and blank stares. It's heavy, the ink almost clotted in places, then scraped away to reveal the paper beneath. There is a palpable sense of weight, of bodies pressed together, seeking solace or just trying to survive. See those hands clutching, shielding? That speaks volumes, doesn't it? It relates to Kollwitz's broader work, always digging into themes of loss, war, and the human condition. Think of Goya's Disasters of War, the same unflinching gaze at suffering. Art isn't always pretty; sometimes, it's a scream on paper, an echo of something we'd rather forget.