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Collection Publications: Klinger to Kollwitz Labels7
Grosz's political caricatures were influential forms of social satire rather than light-hearted cartoons. He used political drawings to expose and undercut Germany's rulers, and to express his revulsion for their actions.
The recto of this drawing is a caricature of Friedrich Ebert, chancellor of the short-lived Weimar Republic from 1919 to 1925. As the leader of the majority Socialist party, Ebert became Germany's first democratically elected president in 1919. Grosz saw Ebert as the epitome of a socialist leader who caved under the influence of the ruling classes. A cover of the satirical newspaper Die Pleite (no. 7, 1923) shows Ebert in an almost identical composition to that of Der Chef. Grosz frequently ridiculed Ebert, using a cigar and an enormous glass of champagne as his attributes. The verso of the drawing shows a figure with boards nailed over his eyes, wearing a shirt that reads: Ich bin Prophet.
The recto of this drawing is a caricature of Friedrich Ebert, chancellor of the short-lived Weimar Republic from 1919 to 1925. As the leader of the majority Socialist party, Ebert became Germany's first democratically elected president in 1919. Grosz saw Ebert as the epitome of a socialist leader who caved under the influence of the ruling classes. A cover of the satirical newspaper Die Pleite (no. 7, 1923) shows Ebert in an almost identical composition to that of Der Chef. Grosz frequently ridiculed Ebert, using a cigar and an enormous glass of champagne as his attributes. The verso of the drawing shows a figure with boards nailed over his eyes, wearing a shirt that reads: Ich bin Prophet.
