notice Some items are only available on campus or will require authentication via EUID and Password at the point of use.

UNT Special Collections 2025 Research Fellowship Awardee - Isabella McCord

Isabella McCord
Posted: 05/13/2025

UNT Special Collections 2025 Research Fellowship Awardee

Isabella McCord

Project Title

Abschied und Tod: The Impact of Grief and Faith on Käthe Kollwitz from 1914 to 1924

Project Description

This project will analyze the 1924 Abschied und Tod (Farewell and Death) portfolio by twentieth-century German artist Käthe Kollwitz held in the UNT Special Collections. It seeks to understand references to Christian theology throughout these works as an indication of Kollwitz’s return to faith as a source of inspiration and comfort in the aftermath of her son’s death during the first world war. Through this project, I will reference other materials from the Collections relating to Kollwitz’s life and conduct comparative visual and historical analysis in order to develop a thorough understanding of this portfolio that is absent from the present scholarship.

Biography

Isabella (Bella) McCord is an undergraduate student at the University of North Texas and member of the Honors College. She is currently pursuing a B.A. in Art History through the College of Visual Arts and Design, and B.A. in German Studies with a minor in English through the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences. Her research interests include avant-garde art movements of the early twentieth-century in Germany, with an emphasis on women artists. During the 2025-2026 academic year, she will continue her research on the work of artists including Käthe Kollwitz, Elfriede Lohse-Wachter, and Maria Uhden to understand the unique relationship between tragedy and women artists, especially those who are also mothers.