Ernst Barlach and Käthe Kollwitz are often mentioned in one breath. The mutual respect and artistic inspiration of these two congenial artists is manifest. Käthe Kollwitz travelled to Güstrow in October 1938 for his funeral. A month after the obsequies she noted: »I sometimes feel that Barlach has given me his blessing. I am able to work well.« (Käthe Kollwitz, diaries, November 1938)
In this entry she referred to the relief »Lamentation« on which she worked during that period. In a letter from 1941 Käthe Kollwitz commented on it and referred to the NS regime which had categorised Barlach’s work as »degenerate art«:
When I was making the Lamentation I was affected by Barlach’s death and the terrible injustice that he had suffered. This terrible injustice that people do to each other has continued during the three years [since Barlach’s death] and it is still going on …«
The face of the figure in mourning reveals, behind her hands, the artist’s features.
