Background (Hintergrund)
George Grosz American, born Germany
Publisher Der Malik Verlag German
Not on view
Regarding his opposition to the war, Grosz wrote "War meant horror, mutilation, annihilation. Did not many wise people feel the same way?" Produced ten years after the armistice, and based on his set designs for Erwin Piscator’s 1928 stage production of The Adventures of The Good Soldier Schwejk, the series presents the devastating effects of the war on the land and its inhabitants—something Grosz, who served as an infantry soldier, knew well. While artists such as Otto Dix focused primarily on soldiers’ experiences, Grosz expanded his critique to institutions such as the government and the church that supported nationalistic rhetoric and stoked the enthusiasm for combat. Hintergrund includes images of skeletons in military uniforms on the battlefield, mass graves, executions, and Christ on the cross wearing a gas mask; Grosz was consequently tried for "insulting institutions of the Church," and many of the Hintergrund portfolios were confiscated and destroyed.
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