George Grosz, the critic and chronicler of his time who railed against the bourgeoisie, against war and against capitalism, and as such rose to fame both in his native Germany and in his adopted country of America, where several opinion polls have placed him among the best artists of his time, is presented in the exhibition from a completely different side: as an empathetic reverer of the female nude, and especially when his beloved wife Eva is his model - a very great love.
The nucleus of the exhibition is a series of watercolour nudes painted by George Grosz in America, all of which come directly from the artist's estate. These watercolours form part of the artist's intensive and fruitful treatment of the theme of the nude during the period spent by the artist in a country far removed from his native Germany. Big-city motifs, such as street scenes, music halls, ballet, fairgrounds and other places of leisure and pleasure, were popular at the beginning of the 20th century and were the inspiration of some of Grosz's masterpieces. But why did the artist choose to devote himself – in several hundred paintings and works on paper – virtually entirely to the theme of the nude during his years in America?
