GROSZ, GEORGE
George Grosz (July 26, 1893 in Berlin, Germany – July 6, 1959 in Berlin, Germany) was a German-American painter, graphic artist and cartoonist.
He was a member of the Dada and New Objectivity Group.
He participated in the First World War as an voluntary infantryman, but was already released in May 1915. “War was horror, mutilation and destruction for me,” says Grosz after. He did not want a German name as a strict war opponent. That is why he called himself George Grosz since 1916.
From June to October 1932, Grosz received a lecture for the New York Art Students League, which he accepted.
On January 12, 1933, he finally emigrated to the United States, his children followed in October.
This probably saved his life, as a few days later, his studio was stormed by the the Nazis.
His typical subjects are the metropolis, its absences (murder, perversion, violence), as well as the class antagonisms that show in it. He often ridicules in his works the ruling circles of the Weimar Republic, attacks social opposites, and particularly criticizes the economy, politics and the military.