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George Grosz, Widmung
an Oskar Panizza (1917/18)
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Grosz' picture is another variation on the theme of the metropolis as an infernal abyss. Before the backdrop of World War I the funeral procession for Grosz’ friend Panizza is transformed into a grotesque dance of death: the mourners shown here in an inextricable tangle of fragmented legs, disjointed arms and animal-like faces follow the coffin on which a drunken skeleton is sitting; the streets are illuminated by a hellish red light. The house fronts with their red windows and disconnected lettering seem to be about to topple onto the people. The only thing that marks a blatant contrast to this vortex of faces, limbs and objects is the glaringly white cross in the hands of a caricatured priest. This is a cross which, judging from the priest's gesture of helplessness, offers no consolation. Together with the flag and other purposeless symbols flaunted by the people, it is merely an additional fragment in a world of disorder. |
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