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拍品专文
Ralph Jentsch has confirmed the authenticity of this work.
Grosz had left Berlin just a few weeks before Hitler came to power and he arrived in New York on 23 January 1933, in order to settle in the United States for good. Grosz was fascinated by New York, its architecture and streets, its people and their way of living. Having lived in the metropolis of Berlin since 1912, Grosz was accustomed to the turbulent life of a big city, and immediately fell in love with New York.
With his early New York works depicting street scenes, downtown architecture and close-up portraits of typical New Yorkers, in America, Grosz continued the tradition of city views from his Berlin years that played an important role in his œuvre between 1925 and 1930. Like he used to do in Berlin, Grosz captured in his new world scenes with all sorts of people inhabiting the streets of the lively city. There is the posh American couple of the upper East and West Side and the turbulent life of Broadway and Times Square. However, it is important to note that Grosz did not try to transport memories or sentiments of his past into his work of the present. His watercolours and drawings of people and the surrounding architecture are purely American. As a sharp observer of the world, he precisely captured the character and attitude of his subjects. Facial expressions, the clothing, gestures and postures, every detail represents the sitter in a unique way like in the present watercolour, Woman with Hat.
The present work was created in a unique technique, where Grosz started working in watercolour, blending wet pigment into wet pigment, later adding just a few lines of colour with pen and ink. This method has created a beautifully soft, feathery effect with a high-level of detail at once.
Ralph Jentsch
Grosz had left Berlin just a few weeks before Hitler came to power and he arrived in New York on 23 January 1933, in order to settle in the United States for good. Grosz was fascinated by New York, its architecture and streets, its people and their way of living. Having lived in the metropolis of Berlin since 1912, Grosz was accustomed to the turbulent life of a big city, and immediately fell in love with New York.
With his early New York works depicting street scenes, downtown architecture and close-up portraits of typical New Yorkers, in America, Grosz continued the tradition of city views from his Berlin years that played an important role in his œuvre between 1925 and 1930. Like he used to do in Berlin, Grosz captured in his new world scenes with all sorts of people inhabiting the streets of the lively city. There is the posh American couple of the upper East and West Side and the turbulent life of Broadway and Times Square. However, it is important to note that Grosz did not try to transport memories or sentiments of his past into his work of the present. His watercolours and drawings of people and the surrounding architecture are purely American. As a sharp observer of the world, he precisely captured the character and attitude of his subjects. Facial expressions, the clothing, gestures and postures, every detail represents the sitter in a unique way like in the present watercolour, Woman with Hat.
The present work was created in a unique technique, where Grosz started working in watercolour, blending wet pigment into wet pigment, later adding just a few lines of colour with pen and ink. This method has created a beautifully soft, feathery effect with a high-level of detail at once.
Ralph Jentsch