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Die Besitzkröten [Toads of Property]
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? DACS 2004

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Die Besitzkröten [Toads of Property] 1920
This drawing was made while Grosz was working with the Berlin Dada group. It shows three industrialists counting their riches, while the poor and war-wounded stand in the background. The man in the bottom right of the picture wears a swastika tie pin. Grosz claimed that he made this drawing, and others like it, to reveal to the oppressed the true faces of their rulers. Indeed, he has made the three men look ugly and corrupt. However, his work seems to caricature the poor as much as the rich.

Glossary Open

Caricature

A portrait with the facial features exaggerated for comic or satirical effect.

Dada

A radical artistic and literary movement that was a reaction against the cultural climate that supported the First World War. The Dadaists took an anti-establishment attitude, questioning art's status and favouring performance and collage over traditional art techniques. Many Dadaists went on to become involved with Surrealism.

Caricature , Dada

Details

  • Acc. No. GMA 2102
  • Medium Pen and ink on paper
  • Size 52.70 x 41.10 cm (framed: 79.37 x 66.67 x 2.54 cm)
  • Credit Purchased 1979

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