George Grosz (1893-1959, Berlin) is best known for being critical of society. In 1915 he started jobbing as illustrator for several magazines to make a living and made him a name. His portrayal of metropolis life, red-light districts and the demimonde, set him equal to Otto Dix and as leading purveyor of the New Objectivity ("Neue Sachlichkeit"). His drawings depict objects and people in a realistic, sometimes markedly caricatured and frequently alienated context. Grosz repeatedly faces pornography and blasphemy charges due to the content of his drawings. After the NSDAP is put in power, Grosz emigrates to the US where he applies for US citizenship which is granted to him in 1938. In Germany his work is classified as degenerate art ("Entartete Kunst"), and 285 of his works are being confiscated from public collections. In 1940 the Museum of Modern Art in New York shows a retrospective of his work which later tours through the United States. In 1946, the AAA Gallery, New York hosts an exhibition titled A Piece of My World in a World without Peace. Later the Dallas Museum of Arts shows several works by Grosz titled Impressions of Dallas and also the Whitney Museum, New York shows retrospective works. George Grosz dies on July 6, 1959 at the age of 66.
