A woman presses her cheek against the long blade of a scythe as she works to sharpen it with her riddled hands.
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

In this black and white print, a woman presses her cheek against the long blade of a scythe as she works to sharpen it with her riddled hands. Wearing a frock with her sleeves rolled up, she casts her gaze down and out of the frame at left.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
BR33.36
People
Käthe Kollwitz, German (Königsberg, East Prussia 1867 - 1945 Moritzburg, Germany)
Title
Whetting the Scythe, plate 3 from the cycle "Peasants' War"
Other Titles
Title: Whetting the Scythe
Series/Book Title: Peasants' War
Original Language Title: Beim Denglen, Blatt 3 aus dem Zyclus "Bauernkrieg"
Classification
Prints
Work Type
print
Date
1905
Period
Modern
Culture
German
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/225921

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Etching printed in black ink on off-white wove paper
Technique
Etching
Dimensions
plate: 29.8 x 29.5 cm (11 3/4 x 11 5/8 in.)
sheet: 53.4 x 36.9 cm (21 x 14 1/2 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • Signed: graphite, l.r. "Käthe Kollwitz"

State, Edition, Standard Reference Number

Standard Reference Number
Klipstein 90

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Busch-Reisinger Museum, Museum Purchase
Copyright
© Estate of Käthe Kollwitz, Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn
Accession Year
1933
Object Number
BR33.36
Division
Modern and Contemporary Art
Contact
am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • Peter Nisbet and Joseph Koerner, The Busch-Reisinger Museum, Harvard University Art Museums, ed. Peter Nisbet, Harvard University Art Museums and Scala Publishers Ltd. (Cambridge, MA and London, England, 2007), 197

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Modern and Contemporary Art at am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu