The Sketchbooks of George Grosz

Book excerpt: This book explores surprising sides of Berlin Dada activist George Grosz (1893 -- 1959), known for his acerbic drawings of the teens and twenties that mocked the decadent ruling class and the hypocritical petit bourgeois. His sketchbooks, however, encompass a broader array of themes and styles, childhood drawings, caricature, satire, landscapes, nude studies, teaching instructions, sketches of people, and street scenes. From his early beginnings in his home town of Stolp to his late work in the U.S. where he settled in 1933, the nearly 200 sketchbooks offer new insights into Grosz's development and reveal a scrutinizing, yet witty and humane observer. Includes summary catalogue of all extant sketchbooks.(Harvard University Art Museum)