George Grosz

American, 1893–1959

End of a Perfect Day, 1939

From American Associated Artists

Drypoint on paper

Wichita Art Museum, Gift of Barry Wayne Bradley

2007.41

Grosz was one of many European refugees brought to America by the crises of the post-World War I depression and the growing power of fascism. Grosz was born in Prussia. He pursued art training in Dresden, Paris, and Berlin.

In his youth Grosz idolized the military profession. However, after first-hand experience in combat in World War I and in the unstable circumstances of post-war Germany, Grosz devoted himself to the denunciation of war. He joined the Dadaist art movement and developed a satiric expressionistic style.

The main targets of Grosz’ satire were the military, the industrialists, and corrupt government officials. The Nazi regime accused Grosz of being a decadent painter and therefore dangerous to the state. Grosz escaped imprisonment when he received an invitation to teach at the Art Students league in New York, in 1932.

He became an American citizen in 1935 and taught at the Columbia University’s School of Fine Arts. In 1959, the artist returned to Berlin and died there a short time later.