SURREAL REVEAL
I'm only just discovering the amazing breadth of style there is in the work of Georges Grosz (1893-1959), whose birth-date it is 26th July.
Being a satirical, social commentator in his art & caricatures got him into a lot of trouble: fined a large amount, with his litho plates confiscated, accused of insulting the German Army; sought after / hounded by Nazis; arrested on arrival in Moscow, suspected of being a spy; even prosecuted for blasphemy for some potent anti-clerical drawings.
Exquisite drawings, able to capture intensity, and monstrosity.
below, Civil War,1936-7, reed-pen over charcoal on paper.
Throw in a stint of military service (short-lived), and his art speaks volumes in how to process the madness of the times he was living in. It might explain, too, his being one of the founders of Berlin Dada - the absurd, and surreal - fit those times well.
Explosion, 1917
Adept at painting, drawing, caricature, collage, or photo-montage; excelling in which style; able to capture the zeitgeist of the age, or area, as in the image on the left of Kurfurstendam, 1925
Emigrating to America brought about a complete change of style - putting all the horrors of subject matter behind him, and returning to painting. He would have seen the poem by Emma Lazarus welcoming exiles and refugees to their new home; new life.
below: Street in Berlin, 1931
Here's a fantastic art-ride through his work that really brings together the scope and range he was able to produce; some very beautiful and touching work:
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