A World in

GROSZ DISARRAY:
Works on Paper by George Grosz

Pucker Gallery
BOSTON
 DIE GOLDGRAEBER
(THE GOLD MINERS)
1915-1916
Lithograph on
Japon Nacre Paper
8 1/2 x 5 1/2

A World in
2 GROSZ DISARRAY:
he political and cultural quagmire of Post- and communists provide a complete picture of the societal

T World War I Germany manifested itself in

the countrys first and desperate attempt
for liberal democracy: The Weimar Repub-
lic. The Republic tenuously took the place
of the abolished German Empire that had
bled to death in the trenches of the Somme, Verdun and
the fields of Poland and the Ukraine. Strapped to the po-
litical rack, the Republic strained for 14 years between the
extreme right and the extreme left. Inflation, poverty, drug
wasteland of Berlin at the time. The portfolios Ecce Homo
(1923) and Love Above All (1930) are wonderfully illustra-
tive of this period in Grosz career. Although a member of
the Communist party for a time, Grosz was for the most
part without a political agenda. He despised and eschewed
politics, as he saw them as a source of societal and moral
corruption, and he saw humans as being essentially sadistic,
loathsome and gluttonous. This formative period in George
Grosz career established two questions that would plague
abuse, prostitution and violent crime filled the void left by him as an artist for the rest of his life and that are evident
the war in big cities like Berlin. The streets of the capi- in the body of work the Pucker Gallery is pleased to ex-
tal were populated with the wraiths of a broken society: hibit now: George Grosz: Draughtsman or Painter? George
war cripples, drug pushers, prostitutes, dipsomaniacs and Grosz: Satirist or Artist?
political extremist thugs. However, the mutilated Weimar George Grosz steeled and brazened use of line char-
society ignited one of the most intensive intellectual and acterized his most appreciated work during the Weimar
culturally creative periods of the twentieth century. Art, lit- years. It was a style born of some of his earliest visual in-
erature, music, architecture, dance, drama and motion pic- spirations:
ture all saw important contributions at this time. George
Grosz, who was born in Berlin in 1893, was a major player ... the soap painters, a now forgotten class of itinerant art-
in the turbulent and dramatic art scene of the Weimar, and ists, who painted crude and vulgar pictures on mirrors in
it was a period that weighed heavily on his artistic career, pubs with soap, or with chalk on the scoreboards of the
which spanned two continents and two World Wars. bowling alley of the lodge, for the price of a few drinks.
George Grosz and his artistic oeuvre achieved fame, Those coarse sexual representations impressed Grosz, and
recognition and ultimately established his legacy during when the bowling alley was empty [Grosz] would improve
the years of the Weimar. Having been raised by a cook in the picture. But more important than the subject matter was
military barracks in Pomerania, and later being one of the the direct simplicity of the drawing similar to childrens
innumerable walking wounded of World War I in Berlin, drawings which was to remain a definite source of Grosz
he was exposed at a young age to the mores of the military later work and was recognized by him as such. (Hess p. 11)
life and the officer class: power abuse, wholesale slaughter,
and the depravity of human sexuality. Grosz produced a This unmistakable style is clearly evident in works like Die
huge body of work consisting of paintings, drawings, and Goldgraeber (1915-1916), where Grosz depicts a drunken
graphics that depicted life in the Weimar Republic with an and murderous scene from the American West with inter-
unrelenting and brutal satirical bent. His cruel depiction of woven slashes. In Die Alkoholist (1920) Grosz has reduced
murder, rape, street walkers, war cripples, homeless, fascists, such details as the bartenders hands to simple lines to evoke
 DIE ALKOHOLIST
(THE ALCOHOLIC)
1920
Brush and India Ink on
Buff Paper
19 5/8 x 15 3/8

3
digits, and in a futurist of the works gathered in this
interpenetration of mul- exhibition, Grosz mastery of
tiple planes and propor- the often unforgiving medium
tion, he depicts an urban of watercolor is wonderfully
landscape in the distance evident. In Krauskopf (1925)
with an uncomplicated Grosz complements his clear
grid work. In Familie- and deft usage of line with
nessen (1922), the deft- controlled application of wa-
ness by which Grosz characterizes the profiles of the cast tercolor to enhance the presence and volume of his subject.
of characters present is emblematic of his ability to present However, Grosz used watercolor to work counter intuitively
types with the utmost simplicity. The street scene images to his mastery of line as well. In works like Burlesque (1933)
Schuler (1929) and Parisian Street Scene (1924) illustrate and New York Faces (1933) Grosz appears to have wet the
how Grosz could generate such dynamic movement with the paper before applying the watercolor, and we see the beauti-
use of line. The flurry of scratchy lines that outline the head ful ways in which the color stains and swims as the paper
and arm of the street worker or gardener in the background absorbs it. The artists use of the paper is impressively exqui-
of Schuler represent motion and energy with stunning sim- site. In areas of these two works where Grosz has applied
plicity. Grosz is able to fill a Paris street with bustling self no color we see the paper used as highlight. The restraint of
satisfied human (chattel), sometimes omitting feet or hands the artist allows the paper to create the illusion of depth and
to emphasize the incessant ebb and flow of the human tide. three-dimensionality. Grosz may have been insecure about
The success of Grosz drawings early in his career frustrated his ability to paint, but like Van Gogh, his unending quest to
the artist to a certain degree. Grosz wanted to be recognized best his weakness produced masterpieces.
among the pantheon of German, Dutch and Belgian masters The Weimar years and George Grosz meteoric rise to
like Brueghel, Bosch, and Altdorfer, among others, and to preeminence in the art world of the early 20th century, led
do so, he felt that his paintings had to achieve the admira- to the second dilemma of Grosz career that is evident in this
tion and acclaim that his works on paper did. exhibition: George Grosz: Satirist or Artist? As Grosz said:
Grosz had been academically trained as a draughts-
man; however he was self-taught as a painter. Much like In 1917 ... I began to draw what moved me in little satiri-
Van Gogh, and perhaps due to his autodidactic approach cal drawings. Art for Arts sake seemed nonsense to me ...
to painting, Grosz was plagued by self doubt in his abili- I wanted to protest against this world of mutual destruc-
ties as a painter, and sought ways to successfully adapt his tion ... everything in me was darkly protesting. I had seen
draughtsmanship to painting. The figure played a prominent heroism ... but it appeared to me blind. I saw misery, want,
role in much of Grosz artwork, and in his paintings the fig- stupor, hunger, cowardice, ghastliness. (Hess p. 80)
ures were often conceived as drawings. Grosz experimented
with different painting media, trying to find a form where Painting in search of aesthetic beauty did not make sense
the old and more recognized Grosz was not lost. Water- to Grosz in the post-World War I world. Art had to have a
color was a very suitable extension for his work. In several sociopolitical agenda, and because of that Grosz turned to
 KRAUSKPF
(PORTRAIT)
1925
Pen and India Ink with
Watercolor on Paper
12 1/4 x 10

4
satire. In Berlin Street Scene (1928) Grosz depicts a mother depicts inner character and dignity. With Metzerwagen
and daughter out for a stroll and perhaps some shopping. (1930-1931) Grosz captures a quotidian German country
The young lady is ironically positioned in front of the win- life scene. Probably painted on the occasion of a trip to the
dow advertisement of a butcher shop in the background country, Grosz frees himself of his cruel vision of the world
that reads Todays Fresh Pig. The young subject of this and allows himself to enjoy his craft. In New York Types
painting has no care for the tragic past of recent history or (1933) and Manhattan Faces (1934) Grosz has found him-
what fate may promise for the future. Frhlingsanfang or self in the United States, and he regales in discovering the
The Beginning of Spring (1928) speaks to the unchanging faces and personalities of New York City. He fills the picture
sexual mores of society. Desire does not necessarily end with planes with the visages of a city in perpetual motion, and he
the passing of youth. We see a young, possibly still pubes- avoids the tendency to irony.
cent, acne afflicted woman, accompanied or pursued by a George Grosz wrestled with the inner demons that
less seemingly innocent gentleman. With Couple in New pulled him from draughtsman to painter, and satirist to
York (1933) Grosz criticizes the rich upper crust of New artist for arts sake for the duration of his career. These
York high society, by depicting gaunt and stretched, self-sat- insecurities are similar to those that many artists deal with.
isfied faces, donning fur. These might as well be the faces Grosz strength as an individual and an artist is manifest
of the dead. Greenwich Village Tombstone (1934) evokes a in the way the he approached and dealt with his perceived
trendy artists loft where a poet holds forth to the drunk and weaknesses directly. If Grosz felt he could not paint then
adoring. This soiree is bathed in the smoke of cigarettes and he painted, and if he felt that he could not produce art
alcohol vapors. Nascent culture is created and appreciated for arts sake then he did precisely that. This exhibition
by the hopelessly vapid and unimportant. Grosz was trans- brings together excellent examples of George Grosz pro-
lating the vitriolic satire that had ruthlessly gained acclaim digious talent. Grosz and his oeuvre are products of his
in Europe to the United States. He felt trapped by not only generation and the time in which he lived, but his muse,
the style, but the subject the public identified him with and human beings, is timeless. The outcome of the interaction
expected of him. between artist and his muse speaks to generations to come
Like all good artists, Grosz tested himself and explored of the artists exacting presentation of the worlds inhabit-
through his creation. At times Grosz fought the satirist in ants and their foibles. Grosz saw, experienced and created
himself. Krauskopf (1925) displays Grosz desire to produce a his keen perception of the human condition at its worst.
well conceived and straight forward portrait. The painting goes
further than a representation of the subject, and Grosz Marc N. Schepens
Pucker Gallery, Boston
SOURCES CONSULTED
Flavell, M. Kay. George Grosz, A Biography. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1988.
Hess, Hans. George Grosz. New York: MacMillan Company, 1974.
Whitford, Frank. The Berlin of George Grosz: Drawings, Watercolours and Prints, 1912-1930. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1997.
Ecce Homo: 100 Drawings by George Grosz. New York: Dover Publications, 1976.
Love Above All and Other Drawings: 120 Works by George Grosz. New York: Dover Publications, 1971.
 5

NEW YORK TYPES

1933
Watercolor on Paper
24 x 16 1/2
6

FRUHLINGSANFANG
(BEGINNING OF SPRING)
1928
Watercolor,
Pen and Ink on Paper
23 3/4 x 18 1/8
EIN AMERIKANISCHER BILDERBOGEN
(Costume design of a gangster for
the American Illustrated Page)
Watercolor over Pencil on Paper
15 7/8 x 10 3/4

FAMILIENESSEN
(FAMILY DINING)
1922
Ink, Pen and Brush on Paper
20 x 14
 OLD LADY
1930
Watercolor and Ink on Paper
22 x 15 1/2

BEIM RHEIN-WEIN
(MAN WITH RED WINE)
1929
Watercolor on Paper
15 1/2 x 19 3/4
 9

FAMILY STROLL
1932
Watercolor on Paper
Laid on Board
25 x 19
10

BURLESQUE SHOW
1933
Watercolor on Paper
24 1/2 x 17 3/16
 ALLEGORIE
1922
Pen and Ink on Paper
16 x 22
Private Collection

11

BERLIN STREET SCENE

1928
Gouache on Paper
22 3/8 x 17 1/8
Private Collection
 GREENWICH VILLAGE TOMBSTONE
1934
Ink on Paper
24 3/4 x 19 3/4

12

A BOY GROWS OLDER

1937
Ink on Paper
24 x 18
SCHULER
(SCHOOL BOY)
1929
Pen and India Ink on
Paper
23 1/4 x 18 1/8

13

PARISIAN STREET SCENE

(RECTO AND VERSO)
1924
Pen and Ink on Paper
23 1/4 x 17 1/8
Private Collection
 A Biography
14 GEORGE GROSZ (1893-1959)
uch has been written on the works of which emphasized arts and crafts and enabled Grosz to

M George Grosz and close studies of his art

have proven Grosz to be a consciously po-
litical artist during a period of turmoil in
Germany. Using his art to arouse aware-
ness of the working class and as a sword
to strike blows at the State, he is considered one of the
most biting, anti-military, anti-fascist caricaturists of the
20th century. Grosz work is a graphic depiction of the
years between the two World Wars.
move away from the traditional norms and find his own
style. He spent hours in cafes sketching various types of
humanity vulgar, but honest and real. Despite his early
skepticism about the correctness of Germanys cause in the
First World War, he enlisted as a private; but was returned
to civilian life because of health problems. This brief pe-
riod of service only intensified the sharpness of his line as
he attacked the horrors of the war. Grosz became aware of
futurism and its intensity.
Born in Berlin in 1893, George Grosz grew up in a He expanded his work spatially and introduced sev-
petite bourgeois family. Five years later the family moved eral conflicting picture planes. A witness to the horrors at
to Stolp, Pomerania, where his father died and his mother hand, he devoted his work to radical left-wing elements
took a position as a housekeeper for the Officers club. of Weimar Germany. He associated with anti-war journals
This introduced the budding artist to the officer caste up and became a leader in the radical Berlin Data movement.
close. In Stolp, with the help of a local art teacher, he ap- His work during this time was increasingly treated by the
plied for admission to the Dresden Art Academy. Accep- establishment as the work of a mad man.
tance there provided the foundation for his later brilliant In 1918, Grosz unleashed the satirical battle he had
draftsmanship and extra-curricular art enthusiasms; while waged all his life against the cruelties and absurdities of
also allowing his acquaintance with the early German ex- the establishment; particularly the unholy oligarchy of
pressionist group, Die Brucke. the Prussian militarists and bourgeois capitalists.
At the Academy, he improved his mechanical skills, Like Bertolt Brecht in the theatre, Grosz held up a
but he always believed that only elevated thought could pitiless and satirical mirror to the society howling in in-
develop elevated style. Thus he began his studies on the dignation. Nothing escaped his flaying vision. Profiteers,
power of the line. Through his studies he found himself prostitutes, smug priests, cold-blooded militarists and the
leaning towards the grotesque and the fantastic. Grosz is pigheaded bourgeoisie were all impaled on his pen. Joining
frank about his early erotic excitements as described in his the communists about 1919, Grosz made his work avail-
autobiography. able for the practical everyday use of the political periodi-
Grosz drew in a sketchbook with the purpose of cap- cals. He believed there is no art free from ideology. His
turing fleeting impressions. He studied the works of Hon- political commitments made the literary and factual con-
or Daumier and Henri Toulouse-Lautrec. He despised tent of his drawings even more important. Outraged by
decorative art and wanted his work to be closer to life. his attacks, the government arrested and fined him several
Using a red pen he began to draw figures in an even line times confiscating his artwork. But Grosz uncompromis-
and filled in a wash. ing art won him worldwide recognition as a great satirist
In 1912, he moved to Berlin to study at the Art School, and active Dadaist.
 MANHATTAN FACES
1934
Watercolor on Paper
18 x 34
Private Collection

15

By the end of the 1920s, he had exhausted his rage at seductive nudes in the hope of becoming a more respected
Weimars decadence which served as overture to Hitlers artist in the traditional mold.
take-over. A pessimist by then, he seemed to take a truer In 1958 Grosz became an extraordinary member of
measure of Hitler and the Nazis. Thus, having secured the Akademie der Kunst and in 1959 was awarded a Gold
a teaching position at The Art Students league of New Medal from the National Institute of Arts and Letters, sev-
York in 1932, Grosz left Germany days before Hitlers eral months before his death in Germany.
rise to power. In America, Grosz quickly realized serious His end was like a tragic scene from his own works.
political satire was of no great interest. Humor was to be A group of workers found Grosz dying on his door step.
strictly funny. Ironically, his heroes were unable to save him. Yet his mas-
His watercolors show the fascination he held for the terful satiric work, the equal of Daumier, and an artistic
New Yorkers; men on street corners reading newspapers, parallel to the dramas of Bertolt Brecht, still endures.
smoking cigars, and women in fur collar coats provide a
splendid glimpse of Manhattan in the 1930s. Eager to Rozita Shay
Americanize, he began painting romantic landscapes and Soufer Gallery, New York City
A World in
GROSZ DISARRAY:
Works on Paper by George Grosz

28 July 2007 to 2 September 2007

Opening Reception: 28 July 2007, 3-6 PM
The public is invited to attend.

DESIGN: Leslie Feagley Back Cover: Cover:

EDITOR: Destiny McDonald Barletta METZERWAGEN (THE MEAT WAGON) COUPLE IN NEW YORK
c. 1930-1931 1933
PHOTOGRAPHY: Will Chiron, Max Coniglio, Mani Zarrin
Watercolor on Paper Watercolor on Paper
2007, Pucker Gallery 20 3/8 x 27 1/8 24 x 16 1/8
Printed in China by Cross Blue Overseas Printing Company

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This exhibition is presented under the patronage of the
Honorable Dr. Wolfgang Vorwerk, Consul General
of the Federal Republic of Germany to Boston.
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