A horrific Berlin after World War I in George Grosz's masterpiece to be auctioned at Christie's

On Feb. 5, Christie’ s auction house in London will auction the work Gefährliche Straße (“Dangerous Road”) the masterpiece by George Grosz (Berlin, 1893 - 1959).

Created in 1918, the work is a canvas painting that depicts the streets of Berlin during the conclusion of the Great War in a horrific way. The painting was first exhibited 100 years ago at the Galerie Neue Kunst in Munich during an exhibition dedicated to the author, while it was last shown to the public in 1999, when it was displayed in the Haus der Kunst in Munich as part of the Die Nacht exhibition.

The work is part of a cycle of twenty paintings depicting Berlin at night, painted in the final months of World War I-a “city of decay and decline,” reads the work’s introduction. “Germany staggered toward defeat in World War I and, due to a three-year naval blockade by the Royal Navy, was also on the brink of starvation. The streets of Berlin teemed with beggars, prostitutes and smugglers, symbols of the malaise of Germany’s imperial society in its last days. The ranks of Berlin’s prostitutes were filled with women of all classes who had fallen into ruin, and venereal diseases were rife. Sex and death seemed to be everywhere.” Grosz recognized his own as an era of destruction, during which Germany had shown its “true face.”

This was the context in which the 25-year-old Grosz painted his Gefährliche Straße, on which, as he often did, he poured out his disgust with the times, his past experiences (he had been at the front during the war), and what was happening. Thus, his “dangerous street” becomes a dark and crowded scene where various characters meet, whose disturbing attitudes tell of the Berlin of the time.

Prior to the auction, which will start at an estimate of £4.5-6.5 million, the painting will be exhibited in London’s King Street Galleries from Jan. 30 to Feb. 5.

A horrific Berlin after World War I in George Grosz's masterpiece to be auctioned at Christie's

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