Three sombre figures in an alert pose stare at the viewer – as if they had just been disturbed.
The table packed with playing cards, a bottle of wine and a tankard of beer bears witness to a lively evening in a seedy atmosphere.
The front figure, a hulking blond fellow with puffy lips and a drinker's red-veined nose, is caught in motion as she turns to grasp her baton.
One of the two people behind, an elegantly dressed gentleman in a three-piece suit, tie and top hat, stands threateningly in front of the lady.
She looks cunningly out of the picture, with bright make-up and fiery red hair.
George Grosz captured the small company on vellum in 1922.
The brightly cheerful color palette used by the artist stands in stark contrast to the dark subject of the watercolor measuring 62 by 49 centimetres.
Grosz' depictions of the social aspects of the Golden Twenties are icons of modernity: he deals with the aftermath of the First World War with Dadaesque-burlesque humor and a dose of cynicism.
Its economic and social consequences are evident in the Weimar Republic, especially in Berlin, where Grosz was born and died.
The painter, who emigrated to the United States in 1933 and only returned to West Berlin shortly before his death in 1959, had Anglicized his name as early as 1916,
to demonstrate his anti-war attitude and counteract the patriotic mood in the empire.
Appropriately, “The Little Grosz Museum” recently opened in Berlin-Schöneberg – with the exhibition “Please write grosz instead of big.
How Georg Ehrenfried Gross became the political artist George Grosz”.
It can be seen until September 30th.
The museum is located in a gas station from the 1950s, which the gallery owner and collector Juerg Judin converted into a residential building more than ten years ago.
The works for future exhibitions come from Judin's collection, other private loans and the artist's estate, which Ralph Jentsch manages.
How Georg Ehrenfried Gross became the political artist George Grosz”.
It can be seen until September 30th.
The museum is located in a gas station from the 1950s, which the gallery owner and collector Juerg Judin converted into a residential building more than ten years ago.
The works for future exhibitions come from Judin's collection, other private loans and the artist's estate, which Ralph Jentsch manages.
How Georg Ehrenfried Gross became the political artist George Grosz”.
It can be seen until September 30th.
The museum is located in a gas station from the 1950s, which the gallery owner and collector Juerg Judin converted into a residential building more than ten years ago.
The works for future exhibitions come from Judin's collection, other private loans and the artist's estate, which Ralph Jentsch manages.
Grosz' signed watercolor "Ganoves at the bar" is one of the top lots in Lempertz' offer with modern and contemporary art, which will be auctioned in Cologne on June 1st.
The sheet is estimated at 250,000 to 300,000 euros.
In 1992 it was purchased from Kornfeld in Bern by the current owner.
The price of Grosz's large sheets, which are rare because they are colorful and large, has been rising for decades.
In December 2016, Lempertz auctioned the smaller, but similarly colorful watercolor "Soirée" from 1922 for 446,400 euros with a premium.
The expectations at the time were also between 250,000 and 350,000 euros.