The author's reaction to the sight of two of the works of the German expressionist artist Käthe Kollwitz on the walls of the rooms of her prospective training analyst forms the starting point for an exploration of art, totalitarianism and the art of psychoanalysis. The art and life of Kollwitz are used as the basis of an attempt to grasp the meaning of art together with how and why art can speak so powerfully to us. The impact of the Nazi regime on Kollwitz and her contemporaries leads to consideration of the totalitarian view of the purpose of art and consequently what we mean by ‘art’. Finally, the author perceives the art of Kollwitz as a life-long self-analysis and considers this as a mirror to the concept of psychoanalysis as an art. In her exploration of the arts she applies Bion's concept of ‘O’ (the thing-in-itself) and its transformations to understand and give meaning to the arts.