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George Grosz(1893-1959)Kalte und Warme Getränke 6 5/8 x 7 5/8 in (17 x 19.6 cm)
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George Grosz (1893-1959)
dated '8.5.12' (lower right)
pen and black ink on buff paper
6 5/8 x 7 5/8 in (17 x 19.6 cm)
Drawn on 8 May 1912
Footnotes
Provenance
Estate of the artist, with associated estate stamp and inscription 'LyNr 1224 / 3 30 6' (verso).
Serge Sabarsky Gallery, New York.
Ralph Jentsch has confirmed the authenticity of this work.
George Grosz was born in Berlin but grew up in the relatively obscurity of the garrison town of Stolp in Pomerania. His artistic talents were noticed early. He was sent to the Academy of Fine Arts in Dresden in 1909, returning to the city of his birth in 1912 to study at the College of Arts and Crafts under Emil Orlik. It was in Berlin that he first threw himself into the life of the metropolis and enjoyed the vagaries of it's inhabitants. These two drawings from Grosz's first year in the city show his increasing fascination for the quotidian and grotesque that was to inspire him throughout his career.
As he recorded: 'In Berlin there were marvelous theaters, a huge circus, cabarets and revues. Beer halls as big as station halls, four-story wine restaurants, six-day cycle races, Futurist exhibitions, international tango competitions and a Strindberg cycle at the Königgrätzstraße - that was the Berlin when I arrived there'. (G. Grosz, A small yes and a big no, London, 1982, p. 73.)
We are grateful to Dr. Jentsch for his help in preparing this introduction.
