Max Klinger - Märztage I (March days I) (1883)

The three ' Märztage' prints are frequently thought to reflect upon the 'liberal' revolution of March 1848. Klinger hower rejected this reading and stated that: "I never thought of the revolution of 1848. I composed the thing in 1883. That was the time of the strongest Social Democratic movement with a revolutionary undercurrent throughout Germany. The possibilities were discussed in bars and in the papers. That was the origin of my fantasy... It was the time of my enthusians for Zola (to whom I really wanted to dedicate the 'Dramen'), for the Goncourt brothers, for Flaubert."Klinger can possibly be identified as the figure in profile wearing glasses in the centre of the composition.For more information about the series, see comment for Plate I (1981,1107.21).Lit.: F. Carey and M. Egremont, 'Portrait of the Artist: Käthe Kollwitz' (Birmingham, Ikon, 2017) fig. 14.