Omnibus (1932)

GEORGE GROSZ -
WELCOME TO AMERICA!
By J. P. McEvoy
Thcre is so much to say and so small a
space in which to say it. An appreciation of
Grosz sufficient to give the American public
the proper introduction to him would take
all of this magazine. A bare outline for Grosz
of what he may expect to see in America
would crowd two magazines like this. I have
a few hundred words. I would use them all
in welcome. I could use them all in a tribute
to Grosz as a caricaturist, a satirist, a keen
observer, a superb technician an a charming
fellow. Americans will love him no matter
how much they may wince under his scalpel.
We have no one in America who can
approach Grosz in viewpoint or execution.
I don’t mean to say we have no great cari-
caturists. We have, but we have no George
Grosz, and we will be very fortunate indeed
Kaltes Buffet
(Coll, Hemingway, New York)



to get one, even if it is only to
borrow him for a short time.
But it is only fair to Grosz to
warn him. He will not find ca-
ricature too easy in America. Much
of my country needs only a musi-
cal setting to provide riotous opera
bouffe. Farce is faily fare, and the
Professional satirist gropes around
in a green fog cf envy, mocked by
tablcids, radio and a fantastic
realism. Grosz will not find a
dearth of material for his savage
pen, but such a plethora that he
may suffer at first frcm acute
spiritual Indigestion.
And not only raw material, but
the finished product — our gang-
sters, politicians, night-club hos-
tesses, reformers, bootleggers, di-
vorce lawyers, alimony hunters,
bridge players, collegians, movie
stars — they have been smeared
over the land with lavish abandon
by that master satirist usually
portrayed with benevolent whis-
kers sitting at an improbable angle
on an impossible rainbow.
Menschengruppe
(Slg. Lange, Krefeld)