CULTURAL CONTEXT

COMPARATIVE STUDY
 Formal ELEMENTS FOR The Widow I by Käthe Kollwitz
● After examining this piece, I noticed Kollwitz´s special use of elements and
principles such as use of space, form, contrast, shape, and Unity which can be
seen used on the widow in the portrait.
● The carvings around the woman create a unity like balance, this helps symbolize
the fear and the grief overwhelming her.
● The woman is modeled in a abstract form; she is wearing a dark black dress and
black hair, this Use of the element color represents depression and the lack of faith
the character has.
● The use of the black marks and scars on the widows hands
helps sell to the audience the the poverty and struggle of the people after war
devastated their lives.
● Kollwitz use of color to contrast the womans face and hands from her dress, by
doing this it shows the woman being plunged into the darkness which is then
blanked out with the white background. By doing this the artist also maintains the
balance of the piece in the viewer´s eye and helps the viewer focus on piece.

Käthe Kollwitz, 1921, PART OF

portfolio called War or Die Witwe I,
Woodcut on paper, 370 × 240 mm
 Formal ELEMENTS fOR The migrant mother by dorothea lange
● The first thing one notices when examining the photograph is the use
of elements and principles such as texture, Unity, and balance.
● Lange captures the element of Texture on the mother and the
children in order to show the dirty rugged poverty that that the mother
and kids are living in.
● The use of unity and balance can be seen in the positioning of the
family, The mother stands in between both her children. By doing this
Lange shows the protection and sacrifices that the mother provides
for the welfare of her children.

Dorothea Lange, 1936 ,Migrant mother,

Nipomo, California, 1 photomechanical
print : photogravure, 1936. Gelatin silver
print, 11 1/8 x 8 9/16" (28.3 x 21.8 cm
 Cultural context FOR The Widow I by Käthe Kollwitz

● One of seven woodcuts made by Kallwitz (a great graphic artist and

printmaker of German expressionism) three years after WWI. Made in
response to the suffering that many people went through because of WWI She
called them "unspeakably difficult years". These woodcuts focus on the sorrows
of families who lost their loved ones in the war. Finding the right means of
expression was difficult for Kollwitz. Ernst Barlach exhibition on woodcuts in 1920
influenced her.
● Powerful emotional imagery of a pregnant woman, who has lost her husband in
the war, facing her grief and fears alone. It is Black and white. No happy colors.
Sharp symbol of concentrated emotion of anguish and suffering. The white of
the paper serves as a contrast, line or highlight within the intense black
inking of the rest of the block.
● Shows how even though the war is over, the effects of it are not. Message: Even
though wars can be won or lost, in reality, there are no winners only pain. The
energetic curving of the wood is seen in its rhythmic structure of the widow
and area around. The cuts around the figure give a sense of sport lighting

Käthe Kollwitz, 1921, PART OF

portfolio called War or Die Witwe I,
Woodcut on paper, 370 × 240 mm
 Cultural context fOR The migrant mother by dorothea lange
● Her work was used in the documentary photography project that humanized the
consequences of the Great Depression. Lange took 5 pictures of the desperate
mother of seven at a pea farm. The only information Lange got from her was that
she was 32 and had been living off frozen vegetables and birds her children
hunted. She had just sold her tires to buy food. The purpose of this work was to
photograph migratory labor for the Resettlement Administration so they could
document economic and social distress being experienced by agricultural workers
and also promote the agency’s programs and what it was doing to tackle the
causes of the dislocation
● The photograph shows the devastating effects of depression on families during the
Great depression. Lange tried to capture human suffering during this time. This
photograph became a symbol of the project. Through this picture, a viewer can
see suffering yet perseverance needed to survive. There are courage and
restraint. There are determination and acceptance. She radiates motherhood
suffering at its highest.
● Lange´s work makes the contemporary viewer see the relationship between
self-worth and being a victim of circumstances. The closeness of the picture
transmits personal anxiety that comes from the fear the woman in the picture has
Dorothea Lange, 1936 ,Migrant mother, for her children. The horrible condition they are living in is seen though their dirty,
Nipomo, California, 1 photomechanical tattered clothing and sad setting and shows how they have been victimized and
print : photogravure, 1936. Gelatin silver reduced to being laborers.
print, 11 1/8 x 8 9/16" (28.3 x 21.8 cm
 Comparing formal casualties for ( The Widow I & The migrant mother )
Similarities

Both of the following pieces are created by a female artist

during the 20th century. Both artists pieces show a woman
going through hardship and fear due to a major world crisis.
Both show protective mothers. The widow is pregnant and is
protectively holding her belly and herself. The migrant
mother is holding her children and moves her head forward in
a protective gesture allowing her children to hide behind her.

Käthe Kollwitz, 1921, PART OF Dorothea Lange, 1936 ,Migrant mother,

portfolio called War or Die Witwe I, Nipomo, California, 1 photomechanical
Woodcut on paper, 370 × 240 mm print : photogravure, 1936. Gelatin silver
print, 11 1/8 x 8 9/16" (28.3 x 21.8 cm
 Comparing formal casualties for ( The Widow I & The migrant mother )
Differences

Both of the following pieces have different cultural context.

The first piece goes back to 1920 after WWI and is a wood cut
created by Kathe Kollwitz of a pregnant German woman who
had became widowed by the events of WWI. This woodwork
shows extreme pain, loneliness, and sufferening. Unlike
Kollwitz, Dorothea Lange’s 1936 piece The Migrant Mother,
shares a picture of a farm worker struggling due to the Great
Depression.This piece shows financial suffering and the worry
of a mother needing to feed her family.

Käthe Kollwitz, 1921, PART OF Dorothea Lange, 1936 ,Migrant mother,

portfolio called War or Die Witwe I, Nipomo, California, 1 photomechanical
Woodcut on paper, 370 × 240 mm print : photogravure, 1936. Gelatin silver
print, 11 1/8 x 8 9/16" (28.3 x 21.8 cm
 Bibliography
● “Destitute Pea Pickers in California. Mother of Seven Children. Age Thirty-Two. Nipomo, California.” The Library of
Congress, www.loc.gov/item/2017762891/.

● “MoMA Learning.” MoMA,

www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/dorothea-lange-migrant-mother-nipomo-california-1936/.

● Kollwitz, Käthe. “Käthe Kollwitz. The Widow I (Die Witwe I) from War (Krieg). 1921–22, Published 1923: MoMA.” The
Museum of Modern Art, www.moma.org/collection/works/69685.

● Exploring Contexts: Migrant Mother:Prints and Photographs Division,

memory.loc.gov/ammem/awhhtml/awpnp6/migrant_mother.html.

● “No Caption Needed.” Migrant Mother -- Excerpted from No Caption Needed: Iconic Photographs, Public Culture, and
Liberal Democracy by Robert Hariman and John Louis Lucaites, www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/316062.