Woman in Negligee

Description

George Grosz
Germany, 1893–1959
Reclining Nude (Liegenden Akt)
1915
Ink on paper
Gift of the Ernst Pulgram and Frances McSparran Collection, 2007/2.119
George Grosz
Germany, 1893–1959
Woman in Negligee
Brush and ink on paper
Gift of the Ernst Pulgram and Frances McSparran Collection, 2007/2.80
In these two drawings by George Grosz, one can compare how one Expressionist’s study of the figure relates to the development of his formal style. In Woman in Negligee Grosz pushes the contour line of his figure studies to the point of caricature and satire by removing all shading and hints at depth.
While Grosz shares the emphasis on line and the human figure of the Expressionists, he is also often characterized as part of the Neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity) reaction that followed Expressionism in the 1920s. Neue Sachlichkeit artists presented what could be considered a “hard realism” in contrast to the highly idealized and poetic forms of Expressionist artists. Grosz’s work can often be viewed through both lenses.