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THE COLLECTION

Hermann Birkholz

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From the portfolio

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  • George Grosz. Cover from the portfolio God with Us (Gott mit uns). (1919, published 1920)
    Cover from the portfolio God with...
    (1919, published 1920)
    George Grosz. Cover from the portfolio God with Us (Gott mit uns). (1919, published 1920)
  • George Grosz. Table of contents from the portfolio Got mit uns (God with Us). (1920)
    Table of contents from the...
    (1920)
    George Grosz. Table of contents from the portfolio Got mit uns (God with Us). (1920)
  • George Grosz. God with Us (Gott mit uns) from the portfolio God with Us (Gott mit uns). (1919, published 1920)
    God with Us (Gott mit uns) from the...
    (1919, published 1920)
    George Grosz. God with Us (Gott mit uns) from the portfolio God with Us (Gott mit uns). (1919, published 1920)
  • George Grosz. God with Us (Gott mit uns) from the portfolio God with Us (Gott mit uns). (1919, published 1920)
    God with Us (Gott mit uns) from the...
    (1919, published 1920)
    George Grosz. God with Us (Gott mit uns) from the portfolio God with Us (Gott mit uns). (1919, published 1920)
  • George Grosz. "The Germans to the Front" (Für deutsches Recht und deutsche Sitte) from the portfolio God with Us (Gott mit uns). 1919, published 1920
    "The Germans to the Front"...
    1919, published 1920
    George Grosz. "The Germans to the Front" (Für deutsches Recht und deutsche Sitte) from the portfolio God with Us (Gott mit uns). 1919, published 1920
  • George Grosz. "Ich dien" (Feierabend) from the portfolio God with Us (Gott mit uns). 1919, published 1920
    "Ich dien" (Feierabend)...
    1919, published 1920
    George Grosz. "Ich dien" (Feierabend) from the portfolio God with Us (Gott mit uns). 1919, published 1920
  • George Grosz. German Doctors Fighting the Blockade (Die Gesundbeter) from the portfolio God with Us (Gott mit uns). (1918, published 1920)
    German Doctors Fighting the Blockade (Die...
    (1918, published 1920)
    George Grosz. German Doctors Fighting the Blockade (Die Gesundbeter) from the portfolio God with Us (Gott mit uns). (1918, published 1920)
  • George Grosz. "The World Made Safe for Democracy" (Die vollendete Demokratie) from the portfolio God with Us (Gott mit uns). (1919, published 1920)
    "The World Made Safe for...
    (1919, published 1920)
    George Grosz. "The World Made Safe for Democracy" (Die vollendete Demokratie) from the portfolio God with Us (Gott mit uns). (1919, published 1920)
  • George Grosz. Blood is the Best Sauce (Die Kommunisten fallen - und die Devisen steigen) from the portfolio God with Us (Gott mit uns). (1919, published 1920)
    Blood is the Best Sauce (Die Kommunisten...
    (1919, published 1920)
    George Grosz. Blood is the Best Sauce (Die Kommunisten fallen - und die Devisen steigen) from the portfolio God with Us (Gott mit uns). (1919, published 1920)
  • George Grosz. "Made in Germany" (Den macht uns keiner nach) from the portfolio God with Us (Gott mit uns). (1919, published 1920)
    "Made in Germany" (Den macht...
    (1919, published 1920)
    George Grosz. "Made in Germany" (Den macht uns keiner nach) from the portfolio God with Us (Gott mit uns). (1919, published 1920)

About the portfolio

Heather Hess, German Expressionist Digital Archive Project, German Expressionism: Works from the Collection. 2011.

George Grosz takes aim at the stupidity and brutality of the German military in his portfolio Gott mit Uns (God with us). In nine unremittingly caustic, clearly rendered illustrations, Grosz focuses on the corrupt nature of the pompous, overfed, and self-satisfied officers and officials who had dragged Germany into the cataclysm of World War I and who still governed the Weimar Republic. Grosz depicts the violent suppression of the working class by the ruling class. In Die Kommunisten fallen—und die Devisen steigen (Blood is the Best Sauce), uniformed soldiers beat unarmed protestors as an officer and a profiteer enjoy a decadent meal. Elsewhere, a dead body washing ashore does not disturb a soldier's cigarette break. Grosz sharpens his visual attacks with captions printed in three languages—English, French, and German. These statements are not always direct translations, but sometimes different phrases that together heighten Grosz's satirical attacks. "Gott mit Uns" (God with us), taken from the inscription on German soldiers' belt buckles, originally meant to invoke God's support, becomes in the English caption "God for Us," a nationalist cry to smite the enemy.

Grosz's political stance (as a communist) and intentions (working-class revolution) were obvious. Kurt Tucholsky, one of Weimar Germany's leading satirists, said of the portfolio, "If drawings could kill, the Prussian military would certainly be dead." Grosz, along with his publisher, Wieland Herzfelde, was tried for defamation of the military; found guilty, they were fined and forced to surrender all copies of the portfolio to the army.

George Grosz (American, born Germany. 1893–1959)

The Portfolio

God with Us

Date:
1920 (prints executed 1918-1919)
Medium:
Portfolio of nine photolithographs, one letterpress and line-block cover, and one letterpress and line-block table of contents
Dimensions:
composition (see child records): dimensions vary; sheet (orientation varies, each approx.): 15 7/16 x 19" (39.2 x 48.2 cm) or 18 7/8 x 15 3/8" (48 x 39.1 cm)
Paper:
Cream, slightly textured, laid (Drey Könige).
Publisher:
Malik-Verlag, Berlin
Printer of Plates:
Hermann Birkholz, Berlin
Printer of Text:
Otto von Holten, Berlin
Copyright:
© 2016 Estate of George Grosz/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY
Reference:
Dückers M III.
MoMA Number:
Portfolio_Grosz_GodwithUs
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