George Grosz

The German painter, graphic artist, and cartoonist Georg Groß studied in Dresden and Berlin, and in 1913 went to Paris for the first time. In World War I, he became a pacifist and recorded the atrocities of war. Allegedly, he was to be shot as a deserter but survived. As early as 1916, he dropped his German name and called himself George Grosz. After 1918, he became a member of the Communist Party KPD. Artistically he was assigned to the New Objectivity and the Dadaists.

Grosz provoked reactions with his depictions of murder, perversion, and violence. He was also engaged in the characterization of the ruling society of the Weimar Republic, with the economy, military, and clergy. Because of his socially critical paintings and drawings, he was frequently indicted and convicted.

In 1932, Grosz was offered a teaching position at the Art Students League in New York, emigrated to the US in 1933, and became a United States citizen in 1938, after which he officially Americanized his name to George Grosz, although he had used that name since 1916 as a protest against German nationalism. His works were included in the “Degenerate Art” exhibition by the Nazis.

In 1959 Grosz returned to Germany but soon died after falling down the stairs of his house, while he was severely drunk. His son Peter (1926-2006) became an aviation historian and his son Marty (*1930) one of the best jazz musicians in the United States. In 1977, George Grosz was honored by the German Federal Post Office Berlin with a stamp dedicated at the 15th European art exhibition and again in 1993 on the occasion of his 100th birthday.

The oil painting Boxer Schmeling was created in 1926 measuring 109 x 79 cm. It shows the athlete with a broad chest and sinewy arms. The work was shown on the cover of the magazine Jugend in 1927 and an Austrian stamp on the death of Max Schmeling (1905-2005). Later this painting was bought and owned by the Axel Springer Publishing Company in Berlin.