DOI Heft:
No. 3
DOI Artikel:Jakimowicz, Irena; Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie [Mitarb.]; Grosz, George [Ill.]: George Grosz's Works in the collections of the National Museum in Warsaw
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.17161#0094
5. CarnivaJ, about 1930 — 1932
The way of painting that we observe here, witli fluid splashes of bright watercolour partially
diluting the expressive contours of the drawing, becomes typical for Grosz's works sińce about
1930. This composition is a variation of a watercolour which was in 1932 in tbe possession of
Josef von Sternberg in Hollywood.9 In regard to the somewhat more sketchy treatment of
the drawing and an uncertain solution of the right-side part of the composition with the fragment
of the figurę of a woman sitting on a table, this watercolour, belonging now to the National
Museum, hiay be treated as an earlier version.
The works belonging formerly to Adam Pragier's collection (nos 2 — 5) not only point out
to the collector's connoisseurship but aiso to his particular taste and tt the criteria governing
his choice. Selecting these works from among a probably much larger number, he chose water-
colours which, though brutal in their expression, are nevertheless devoid both of any drastic
effects and definite accents of social criticism. And these were primarily typical to Grosz —
the denouncer of the replete, immoral and grasping bourgeoisie and defensor of the working
class, about which he wrote that „it shall become the creator of the culture of to-morrow" 10.
9. Cf. J. P. Mc Evoy, "Ceorge Grosz — Welcome to America!", Omnibus. 1932, repr. p. 70.
10. George Grosz, Slatt eincr Biographie, [in:] W. Wolfradt, George Grosz, Leipzig 1921, p. 15. I wish to express my
thanks to Mr Mieczysław Berman for allowing me to consult some otherwise books pertaining to the theme, unob-
tainable in Poland, from his library.
80
The way of painting that we observe here, witli fluid splashes of bright watercolour partially
diluting the expressive contours of the drawing, becomes typical for Grosz's works sińce about
1930. This composition is a variation of a watercolour which was in 1932 in tbe possession of
Josef von Sternberg in Hollywood.9 In regard to the somewhat more sketchy treatment of
the drawing and an uncertain solution of the right-side part of the composition with the fragment
of the figurę of a woman sitting on a table, this watercolour, belonging now to the National
Museum, hiay be treated as an earlier version.
The works belonging formerly to Adam Pragier's collection (nos 2 — 5) not only point out
to the collector's connoisseurship but aiso to his particular taste and tt the criteria governing
his choice. Selecting these works from among a probably much larger number, he chose water-
colours which, though brutal in their expression, are nevertheless devoid both of any drastic
effects and definite accents of social criticism. And these were primarily typical to Grosz —
the denouncer of the replete, immoral and grasping bourgeoisie and defensor of the working
class, about which he wrote that „it shall become the creator of the culture of to-morrow" 10.
9. Cf. J. P. Mc Evoy, "Ceorge Grosz — Welcome to America!", Omnibus. 1932, repr. p. 70.
10. George Grosz, Slatt eincr Biographie, [in:] W. Wolfradt, George Grosz, Leipzig 1921, p. 15. I wish to express my
thanks to Mr Mieczysław Berman for allowing me to consult some otherwise books pertaining to the theme, unob-
tainable in Poland, from his library.
80