George Grosz
THE BIG NO
George Grosz (1893-1959) was one of the greatest satirical artists of the 20th century. A co-founder of the Berlin Dada group and a revolutionary in the 1920s, he made hundreds of drawings depicting the vices and injustices of a society on the brink of economic and moral collapse.
This exhibition will feature works from his two most powerful series; Ecce Homo from 1923 and Hintergrund of 1928. These portfolios were originally published by the left-wing publisher Malik Verlag.
Born from the same society that inspired Christopher Isherwood’s 1939 novel Goodbye to Berlin (on which the musical and film Cabaret was based), these drawings present a caustic view of Germany in the traumatic years of the struggling Weimar Republic.
The Big NO derives its title from George Grosz’s autobiography A Little Yes and a Big No.
This is a Hayward Touring exhibition from the Southbank Centre, London.
Main image credit: George Grosz, Bow to the Authorities, 1928, Hintergrund, Folio no. 2, Courtesy the Estate of George Grosz, Princeton, New Jersey, USA
