In yesterday’s post I quoted German artist Käthe Kollwitz (1867-1945); today I want to introduce you to her work. In the 1890’s Kollwitz made a series of lithographs exploring social subjects: children, poverty, death, and protest against injustice. In 1903, Kollwitz captured the primal feelings of grief and loss in her powerful image, Woman with Dead Child. By “stripping away any vestige of ‘civilized’ or rational mourning”(1), this image may be the strongest Kollwitz ever m

Some time ago, in a dream I saw a self-possessed pregnant African woman walking in open grassland, stop and stand poised as she watched a lioness approach her. The dream lioness carried her cub in her mouth, she seemed to want to show the expectant mother her instincts about birth and mothering. For an entire year (2015), I painted this rendition of “Listening” (oils, 48"x30") Not satisfied with the result, I started another version in 2016 which also did not convey the felt-