George Grosz  (German, 1893-1959) 

George Grosz (German, July 26, 1893–July 6, 1959) was an artist recognized for his caricature drawings of life in Berlin during the 1920s. Grosz got his start in the world of art when he was persuaded by a cousin to attend drawing classes. He began to experiment with his art by drawing fictional battle scenes and the local drinking scenes. Grosz studied at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts in Germany from 1909 to 1911. He then studied at the Berlin College of Arts and Crafts under Emil Orlik (Czech, 1870–1932).

Grosz enlisted in November 1914 and tried to avoid going to the front. After being hospitalized for sinusitis in 1915, Grosz was discharged. Grosz, originally named Groß, changed his name in 1916 to Grosz in an effort to protest German nationalism. During the Spartacist Uprising in January 1919, Grosz was arrested, and he later fled using false identification. That same year, he joined the Communist Party of Germany, also known as the KPD. Accused of insulting the army in 1921, he was fined 300 German marks, and his collection of Gott mit uns, a German society satire, was confiscated and destroyed. In 1922, he left the KPD after returning from Russia. In 1932, Grosz took a teaching position for the summer at the Art Students League of New York in America.

He returned to Germany for a short time, and, on January 12, 1933, he and his family immigrated to America, and he became a citizen of the United States in 1938. He took a teaching position at the Art Students League in New York until 1955. Grosz published his autobiography titled A Little Yes and a Big No in 1946. He opened his own art school in his home in the 1950s, and he became the artist in residence at the Des Moines Art Center in New York. By 1954, Grosz had been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Grosz decided to return to Germany and spent his last days there before he died on July 6, 1959. His recognition did not stop with his death. An Oscar-nominated film titled George Grosz' Interregnum was created about him in 1960. Grosz was also portrayed in a supporting role in a film titled Max in 2002.