I have just finished a biography of Kathe Kollwitz  (1867 to 1945). Titled ‘Kathe Kollwitz: Woman and Artist’, it is by Martha Kearns, and was published in 1976 by The Feminist Press at The City University of New York. Kathe Kollwitz was an amazing woman. The daughter of enlightened parents, whose father wanted her to become a professional artist rather than marry, she (mostly successfully) combined marriage, motherhood and her art practice. Passionate about social justice, her life spanned two world wars. The death of her beloved son Peter in WWI spurred her to produce art in his memory. The resultant works included hauntingly powerful images of grief stricken parents, which still resonate with viewers, as their recent appearance at an NGV exhibition attests.

Of her work, her friend Otto Nagel noted that she ‘had achieved in her art the simplicity that only a genius can afford’, with Kearns further noting that ‘It was a genius backed by formidable years in practice: twenty-eight years at etching and lithography; twenty-two years at sculpture; seven years at woodcutting’ (pg 189).

Her life story and struggle to achieve recognition as an artist reminds me of the struggle faced by Louise Bourgeois. I am therefore about to start re-reading the book ‘Louise Bourgeois Destruction of the Father Reconstruction of the Father, Writings and Interviews 1923-1997’, in anticipation of viewing the exhibition of her work at Heide.