Zwei wartende Soldatenfrauen. 1941-1943.
Bronze with dark-brown patina.
With the name on the reverse. With the foundry mark "H. Noack Berlin" on the bottom side. 22.5 x 24.5 x 20.5 cm (8.8 x 9.6 x 8 in).
Cast by the Noack foundry, Berlin.
According to Annette Seeler's catalogue raisonné (Käthe Kollwitz. Die Plastik - Werkverzeichnis, Cologne 2006), there are only posthumous casts made from the plaster model created between 1941 and 1943.
The 7 known copies bearing the "FRIEDENAU" stamp are most likely the early casts up to 1960 which were not registered by Noack. 13 further casts were made under the supervision of the estate administrator Hans Kollwitz from 1960 to September 1971 and another 5 casts were registered during the administration of the estate of the Kollwitz heirs from 1972 to 1985.
In total, the number of casts can therefore be assumed to be between 24 and 30, plus the one piece outside the edition for the Käthe Kollwitz Museum, Berlin. [CH].

• Käthe Kollwitz's outstanding sculptural oeuvre is one of Germany's most significant contributions to modern sculpture.
• Addressing the same themes as in her graphic art, she achieved a unique expression in her three-dimensional works.
• The present bronze is the last sculptural work by the artist, summarizing her entire oeuvre in terms of motif and design.
• Other copies can be found in the Leopold Hoesch Museum in Düren, the German Historical Museum in Berlin, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) in Los Angeles.
• Over 80 years after its creation, the bronze remains astonishingly topical in its call for peace.

PROVENANCE: Private collection Southern Germany.
Private collection Southern Germany (inherited from the above in 2022).

LITERATURE: Annette Seeler, Käthe Kollwitz. Die Plastik – Werkverzeichnis, Cologne 2006, no. 43.

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