Accession Number
1997/1.90

Title
The Gay Cafe

Artist(s)
George Grosz

Artist Nationality
German (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
20th century

Medium & Support
watercolor and ink on paper

Dimensions
24 ¼ in x 19 ¼ in (61.6 cm x 48.89 cm);32 1/16 in x 26 1/16 in (81.44 cm x 66.2 cm);24 ¼ in x 19 ¼ in (61.6 cm x 48.89 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of the Lannan Foundation in Honor of the Pelham Family

Subject matter
George Grosz was a German artist, well know for his caricatures; they were first published in Ulk (a supplement to the German newspaper Berliner Tageblatt) in1910, while he was a student at the Dresden Art Academy.

Grosz served in the military for a short period and was affected by the climate of WWI; there is an obvious reference to themes related to war as well as broader social and political issues in much of his art. Grosz was an active member of the German Communist Party and the Novembergruppe.

Physical Description
There are two separate drawings. The first is a colorful drawing of a gathering of people wearing formal attire. They are depicted as caricatures, with large heads. The other image is a sketch of three people, side by side. On the left, a woman is shown from the back; she wears a coat, hat, high heeled shoes, and carries an umbrella under her right arm. There is a man in the center, shown from the side. He is mid-step, and wears a coat, hat, and boots; he has a mustache. The sketch on the right appears to show the same woman that is depicted on the left, but from a side angle.

Primary Object Classification
Drawing

Collection Area
Modern and Contemporary

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form. Keywords
Figures
German (culture or style)
caricatures
glass
interiors
males
multicolored
seated
sketches
table