The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Rage and Grief

In Käthe Kollwitz’s “Woman with Dead Child,” in a Museum of Modern Art survey, two figures become one in the mother’s tight embrace. Etching with drypoint, sandpaper; artist’s proof. Käthe Kollwitz’s fierce belief in social justice and her indelible images made her one of Germany’s best printmakers. A dazzling MoMA show reminds us why. An artist friend texted me recently, asking how to contend with the anger and sadness she was feeling about the state of the world. I can think of no better balm than the Museum of Modern...