George Grosz - Kaffeehaus Ober zwei kleine Pils - image-1

Lot 315 D

George Grosz - Kaffeehaus Ober zwei kleine Pils

Auction 1099 - overview Cologne
01.12.2017, 18:00 - Modern Art
Estimate: 30.000 € - 40.000 €
Result: 71.500 € (incl. premium)

George Grosz

Kaffeehaus Ober zwei kleine Pils
1915

Colour oil crayon and brown pen and ink drawing on ivory-coloured laid paper 22.4 x 29.1 cm Framed under glass. Signed 'GROSZ' in pencil lower right and dated '1915' left and titled 'Ober zwei kleine Pils' in pen and ink in upper margin . - Annotation "PMG 88" in pencil verso. - Very vibrant colours. Weak folds in left margin and small punctures in the corners.

In essence, the urban themes, for George Grosz typically motifs of human amusement and human hardship, are unified in the crayon drawing. The polyfocal changes in perspective underline the erotically charged, jolly mood of the dense scene in a Berlin establishment.
An integrated picture title gives an exaggerated explanation of the image narrative - as is customary later. Despite the fact that only the contours are in colour, the work gives the impression of being coloured overall.
A year after the beginning of World War I, the iconography in the artist's works intensifies - George Grosz had volunteered for duty, but was withdrawn from service following an illness. "Ober zwei kleine Pils" [waiter, two small beers] is a fine and typical example of his greatest creative period.

For this lot, special conditions are applicable (legend "D" according to the conditions of sale).

Certificate

With a confirmation from Ralph Jentsch, Berlin/Rome, dated 10 October 2017. The work will be included in the catalogue raisonné of the works on paper by George Grosz.

Provenance

Artist's studio, Berlin, 1915; George Grosz estate, 1959; Sammlung Peter Grosz, Princeton/New Jersey; Klaus J. Jacobs Collection, Zurich

Exhibitions

Ferrara 1985 (Galleria Civiche d'Arte Moderna), Gli anni di Berlino, cat. no. 37, with full-page colour illus.; Vienna/Naples/Hamburg/Paris/Munich/Salzburg/Graz/Berlin/Tel-Aviv/Hanover 1986/1987 (i.a. Hamburger Kunsthalle), George Grosz. Die Berliner Jahre, cat. no. 37, with full-page colour illus.; Berlin/Düsseldorf/Stuttgart 1994/1995 (Neue Nationalgalerie/Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen/Staatsgalerie), George Grosz: Berlin - New York, cat. no. X 23, p. 389 with colour illus.; Venice/Madrid/Barcelona 1997/1998 (Peggy Guggenheim Coll./Fundación Colección Thyssen-Bornemisza/Centre de Cultura Contemporania de Barcelona), George Grosz - The Berlin Years, cat. no. 158, p. 61 with colour illus.; Kamakura/Itami/Tochigi 2000 (The Museum of Modern Art/The Itami City Museum of Art/Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Fine Arts), George Grosz. Berlin-New York, cat. no. II-23, p. 63 with colour illus.; Paris 2004/2005 (Musée de la musique), Le Troisième Reich et la musique, cat. no. 112