Outbreak

German artist Käthe Kollwitz created this powerful etching in 1903 as part of her Peasants' War series. The central figure, known as Black Anna, faces away from the viewer, arms raised, propelling a surge of rebels forward. Her body tilts with the force of radical momentum.

The series depicts the German peasant uprising of 1522-25. Kollwitz chose to show the woman from behind, universalizing her as a symbol of righteous anger. This print won the Villa Romana Prize, funding a year's stay in Florence. It exemplifies Expressionist printmaking at its most emotionally powerful.