Zwei miteinander ringende Männer. Um 1892/93.
Pen and India ink- and brush drawing.
Nagel/Timm 83. Signed lower right. On laid paper. 32,5 x 49,5 cm (12,7 x 19,4 in), size of sheet.
This work is a preliminary study for the etching "Szene aus 'Germinal'" dated 1893 (Klippstein 21, Knesebeck 19). One of the drawings for the fighting men from 'Germinal', which has outstanding importance for Käthe Kollwitz' œuvre.

PROVENANCE: Paul Graupe, 90th auction, 1929, no. 277.
Gutekunst und Klippstein, 66th auction, 1951, no. 4.
Collection Louise Diel, Freiburg im Breisgau.
Stuttgarter Kunstkabinett, 17th auction, no. 1445.
Collection Ingeborg Tremmel.

The great importance of drawings on the theme of the fighting scene from 'Germinal' for Käthe Kollwitz's work was described by Werner Timm as follows: "There are drawings by Käthe Kollwitz from her study years in Munich, some still signed with her maiden name Schmidt. This was also where the long chain of her self portraits took its beginning. [..] However, the greatest importance lies with the drawings for Zola's 'Germinal', which were made in Munich. [..] In the course of her occupation with the theme, the artist underwent decisive changes. With great inner consistency and partly influenced by exterior conditions, she became an ever more independent artist, and executed the step from painting to graphic art." (Timm, Werner: Käthe Kollwitz. Die Handzeichnungen, Berlin 1972, pp. 9 f.). Käthe Kollwitz recalls: "So I recollected on the theme 'Kampf' (Fight). I chose the scene from 'Germinal', where two men fight in a smoke-filled bar about the young girl Cathrin. This composition was acknowledged. For the first time I felt confirmation for what I was doing, great perspectives opened in my imagination, and I had sleepless nights for all the happiness I felt." (Transl. quote after: Timm, Werner: Käthe Kollwitz. Die Handzeichnungen, Berlin 1972, p. 9). [KH].