This poster is one of the most popular creations of the artist. It was made in 1923, commissioned by the Workers International Relief (WIR) against German post-war deprivation caused by inflation.
The faces of the children are strongly typecast, presumably to give expression to mass deprivation. The image of the children pleadingly holding up their food bowls has a strongly appellative character.
It seems that the artist was prepared to make aesthetic concessions in works with social concerns to achieve the desired effect.
The drawing for this poster, which was directly transferred to the lithographic stone, is also part of the Cologne Kollwitz collection.
