Sixty Works by Modern Masters - Flipbook - Page 85
George Grosz
George Grosz
German/American, 1893 - 1959
Posh Couple, 1954
Watercolour, gouache, pen, India ink and pencil on paper
19½ x 15¼ inches / 49.5 x 38.8 cm
Signed lower right: Grosz
The present work is one of three
watercolours, including Nightclub
V (overleaf) that Grosz presented
to Henry Cornelius, a film director
with whom he worked on the 1955
film adaptation of John van Druten’s
Broadway play, I Am a Camera.
Inspired by Christopher Isherwood’s
novel Goodbye to Berlin, the events
of the play are based on the author’s
real-life experiences living in the
corrosive environment of Berlin in
the 1930s.The staunchly anti-Nazi
Grosz had himself emigrated from
Germany to America in 1933 as
Hitler rose to power.
Posh Couple was completed the year
in which the artist was elected to
the American Academy of Arts and
Letters and was gaining international
recognition for his work.
Provenance
Acquired directly from the artist by
the family of the previous owner
Thence by descent
This painting is accompanied by a certificate
of authentication kindly issued by
Ralph Jentsch and will be included in the
forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the artist's
work which is currently in preparation
"The bourgeoisie and the petty bourgeoisie
have armed themselves against the rising
proletariat with, among other things, 'culture'."
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