Ger./Am. 1893-1959

New York, Downtown Manhattan, 1933

Watercolor on wove paper, framed

Signed l.l. 26 1/8" x 17 1/2" actual, 29 3/4" x 21 1/8" framed

Provenance: Studio of the artist, Bayside, Long Island, New York (1933) to Private Collection New York to Private Collection Austin, Texas

Literature: We would like to thank Ralph Lentsch for his assistance cataloguing this lot. A Letter from Mr. Lentsch accompanies this lot. This work will be included in the forthcoming Catalog Raisonné of the artist's works on paper

Other Notes: Lentsch notes: "Grosz was fascinated by New York, by its architecture and streets, its people and the way of living. Having been living in the metropolis Berlin since 1912, and having been used to the turbulent life of a big city, Grosz fell immediately in love with New York when he arrived there in 1932 for the first time in order to teach during the summer months at the Art Students League and when he settled there at the beginning of 1933 for good. With his early Manhattan view of the years 1932-1934, Grosz continues in America the tradition of city views and street scenes from his Berlin years that played an important role in his oeuvre of the years 1925-1930. But Grosz did not transpose his Berlin visions and memoirs to the big city of New York he explored but took all the impressions and the American way of life as he experienced them here and as they were.

In this watercolor, Grosz depicts a typical street scene of downtown Manhattan with brownstone houses and a high rise building in the background. The street is busy with cars and people walking by. In the middle of the picture on can detect part of the elevated train track. Grosz proves his excellent mastery of watercolor technique by working wet into wet. Only a few lines of ink mark the basic composition, while the resto of this fascinating scene is done with sure brush strokes of watercolor, wet into wet."