A Dream

Description

Unlike the early Expressionists who nurtured their styles within close-knit circles of like-minded artists enjoying city life and summers in the countryside, the artists working later matured, both personally and artistically, in wartime. George Grosz first studied art in 1909, first in Dresden then Berlin, and by the start of the war had begun to develop his satiric, coarse, and high-charged style. His work predating the war shows a deep fascination with crime, violence, and the macabre life in the shadows of the city.
A Dream predates the war by several months and clearly illustrates the artist’s affinity for revealing the darker aspects of modern life. In this scene a solitary figure of undefined sex and age sits perched upon a chair in a dramatically lit interior. With hand over heart the gnarled figure stares out with fixed gaze upon the viewer. This work is characteristic of Grosz’s use of exagerrated form, grotesque figures, and eerie scenes.
Text written by Katharine A. Weiss, Exhibitions Assistant, on the occasion of the UMMA exhibition Graphic Visions: German Expressionist Prints and Drawings, January 25–April 6, 2003, West Gallery