George Grosz

George Grosz received formal training at the Academy in Dresden, Germany, then in Berlin at the School of Applied Arts, becoming an excellent draughtsman and caricaturist. Like many other artists following World War I, Grosz was committed to an egalitarian socialist society, inspired by the founding of the Weimar Republic (1919–1933), the first German democratic government. Throughout the 1920s, he participated in exhibitions, publications, and performances spearheaded by a group of politically engaged artists, writers and poets associated with the radical Dada movement. Grosz's satirical art often attacked Berlin society through unflattering depictions of depraved behaviors and violated bodies. Opposed to the increasing militarism that accompanied the rise of National Socialism, Grosz emigrated to America in 1932, where he continued to work as an artist.