01.22.2020 - By Getty
Käthe Kollwitz (1867–1945) was a prolific printmaker whose
work explored painful themes such as hunger, poverty, and death. To achieve her
powerful results, she employed a wide range of printing techniques and created
numerous drawings and working proofs as part of her process. A new exhibition
at the Getty Research Institute, Käthe
Kollwitz: Prints, Process, Politics, showcases her working methods through pieces
donated as a partial gift in 2016 by Dr. Richard. A. Simms.
Simms, born in New Orleans 1926 and a dentist and
orthodontist by trade, is a dedicated collector of prints and drawings who came
to Kollwitz’s work by chance. The Dr. Richard A. Simms Collection at the GRI
contains more than 650 nineteenth- and twentieth-century works by Kollwitz.
In this episode, Dr. Simms discusses his unusual path to becoming a collector and the appeal of Kollwitz’s art. Getty Research Institute exhibitions coordinator Christa Aube, who co-curated the exhibition with Louis Marchesano and Naoko Takahatake, joins the conversation to lend insight into Kollwitz’s working methods.
For images, transcripts, and more, visit getty.edu/podcasts.