: 3D Gallery

Portrait of George Grosz

George Grosz was a German artist most associated with the 1920s Berlin life, and the Dada movement, which was anti-war and anti-bourgeois. He was in opposition to the Weimar Republic. This can be reflected through his paintings in the 1920s, which were often grotesque. He was known to create caricatured figures that represented the social hierarchy in Germany such as portraying the bourgeoisie as a fat man with a cigar. As he immigrated to the US in 1932, his works became less politically concerned. Grosz’s famous works include Pillars of Society and The Funeral.

Explosion 1917

In this painting, Grosz shows the German society in violent destruction.
It was based on the personal experience where Grosz was discharged from the army as he had a mental breakdown thus being “unfit” to serve. The city in the painting, most likely Berlin, is undergoing a bomb attack and has glass, bricks, debris, people flying through the air. The building structures around the centre of impact can be seen to be beautiful before, but is now in this riotous scene. This work criticises Germany as being “destructed” from war and under the rule of the Kaiser. It requests or protests for a revolution by the Communists. George Grosz is dissatisfied with the state of Germany in the First World War.

Toads of Property 1920

Drawn during the early Weimar Period, the Toads of Property shows three industrialists counting their money while the poor, weak elderly and wounded soldiers stand at the background. From the swastika found on the man in the bottom right, it is known that he is a Nazi. This piece portrays the rich as Nazis being ugly, corrupt and unable to care less for their people. Grosz reveals the true face of the Nazis and criticises the Weimar Republic as being corrupt, unable to truly help the bottom half of the society. In this case, the rich remains on top and is indifferent about the wounded surrounding them.

The Faith Healers 1916-1917

Also titled, Fit for Active Service, the Faith Healers, depicts
a doctor inspecting a skeleton for injuries. The doctor is saying ‘KV’, which is short for ‘fit for combat’ in German. The surrounding general officers seem to be chatting away or dozing off, unconcerned about the health of the skeleton. Grosz wanted to show how the German army suffered from severe losses in the First World War, and yet its generals could not care less about their soldiers. A contrast is also shown between generals being healthy and well-rounded, and the bare skeleton. In 1917, George Grosz was in the front line, but was released four months later due to a diagnosis of mental illness. Therefore, this piece had personal significance to him, on how desperate the soldiers were, and how unreasonable it was for the bare skeleton to be fit for war.

The Funeral: Tribute to Oskar Panizza 1917-1918

This work makes use of both Futurism and Cubism, and is dedicated to
Oskar Panizza, who is known for his play Liebeskonzil, which is about the sexually transmitted infection, syphilis, and God as an old man. Panizza was a man who rejected militarism and religious authority, thus admired by Grosz. The painting uses a variety of red light and depicts grotesque attendants of the funeral with distorted limbs. The Grim Reaper sits on the coffin drinking, with the people surrounding him being alcoholics and with syphilis. Amongst the many buildings which consists of nightclubs and bars, a church stands in the middle as a contrast. With this piece, Grosz wanted to protest what humanity has become during the First World War, that everyone was walking to their funeral, in this case a symbolism of hell. It also shows Grosz’s opposition to what Germany would become post WW1 under the lead of its government, which we know of being the Weimar Republic.

A Winter's Tale 1917

A Winter’s Tale, is similar to the Funeral in its time period created and in Grosz’s worry for the future of Germany after the war. However, in this case, it is clear that he wants the Communists to successfully overthrow the Kaiser. In the painting, a well-dressed man representing the bourgeoisie having his meal, and several figures, being a general, a schoolmaster and a priest surround him trying to alter his thoughts to their ideal. Under the chaotic background of swirling bodies, a man to right of the table seems like a sailor, who represents revolution in Grosz’s works. The painting was also named after a poem that was banned due to its criticism of the German society. Grosz wanted to maintain a critical visual arts tradition in Germany.

Republican Automatons 1920

The piece depicts two men, seemingly lifeless but well-dressed on a
deserted street. They appear to be automatons, who are machines that imitate human beings. However, their arms fail to fit together. The figure on the left waves the German flag. It has no facial features that are instead replaced with the number ‘12’. This number takes away one’s individual identity, that it is nothing but an individual of the Weimar Republic. One of its legs is replaced with a peg. This represented the common amputation having to be done in soldiers at the First World War. The figure on the right has an open head filled with numbers and words. It also has one arm with a peg, once again representing
amputation. It also wears the iron cross, a symbol for honorable military
service during the First World War. The gears below it reminds us that once again they are not human. The title of the painting makes it clear to us that these automatons belong to the Weimar Republic, that they cannot think for themselves but blindly follow orders. This is Grosz’s criticism of the early Weimar Republic, that its people cannot think or act for themselves.

Sonniges Land (Sunny Land) 1920

The Sonniges Land depicts two large pigs at the centre and at the background of the painting. It correlates to the two butchers in the painting, symbolising “Butchery of War”. The butchers can represent the Weimar Republic, and the pigs as the bourgeoisie. It conveys a similar message as the Republican Automatons, with both criticising the German people as ‘lifeless’ and unable to think for themselves and the future of Germany.

Ecce Homo, A Portfolio Published in January 1923

The works of Ecce Homo, captured the corruption during hyperinflation and the early political turmoil in the 1920s. Grosz was prosecuted after publishing Ecce Homo, and was fined up to 6,000 marks. The editions published were destroyed in the book burnings by the Nazis in 1933. These works show post-WW1 German life, which include topics on wounded soldiers, prostitutes, capitalists, old generals and other sensitive topics. His disillusioned art represented his political view on how corrupt the German society was post WW1.

Pillars Of Society 1926

Grosz’s painting in 1926, Pillars of Society, is a sarcastic piece which mocks the German elites who supported fascism. The priest in the background is ironically blessing the murderous actions of the German army. With the Nazi in the front holding a sword, and the two at his side holding a blood-stained leaf and the other with an open head filled with steaming faeces. All four figures are Grosz’s criticism towards the Weimar Republic’s actions and the corrupt German society.

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