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Lot Essay
Im Schatten ('In the Shadows') is among Grosz’s most acute and visually refined print portfolios, its nine lithographs capturing the social imbalance and moral ambiguity of post-war Berlin with stark, austere lines. As for many of his publications, the artist deliberately embraced an 'industrial' production method: Im Schatten is based on Grosz's pen drawings, which were then photographed and transferred to lithographic stones.
The bleak street scenes and and one rather louche interior exemplify the sharp perceptiveness and anger of Grosz’s graphic work at the time of the Weimar Republic. As Dückers observes, the portfolio marks a key moment in Grosz’s shift toward a more distilled and observational satire, which focusses on the plight of workers, the urban poor, and impaired war veterans, often juxtaposed with the decadence and obscenity of 'fat cat'-industrialists and the indifference and brutality of police- or militia-men.
Complete, signed sets of Im Schatten, such as the present lot, are increasingly scarce, and this example is notable for its uniformly good condition and presence of the original title page and portfolio.
The bleak street scenes and and one rather louche interior exemplify the sharp perceptiveness and anger of Grosz’s graphic work at the time of the Weimar Republic. As Dückers observes, the portfolio marks a key moment in Grosz’s shift toward a more distilled and observational satire, which focusses on the plight of workers, the urban poor, and impaired war veterans, often juxtaposed with the decadence and obscenity of 'fat cat'-industrialists and the indifference and brutality of police- or militia-men.
Complete, signed sets of Im Schatten, such as the present lot, are increasingly scarce, and this example is notable for its uniformly good condition and presence of the original title page and portfolio.