George Grosz, The Eclipse of the Sun, 1926

     George Grosz was born July 26, 1893 and died July 6, 1959 at the age of 65. he was born in Berlin, Germany and was the son of a pub owner. George Grosz cousin encouraged him to attend a drawing class that he went to weekly and was taught by a local painter named Grot. George continued to improve his skills in drawing and took excessive care in the consideration of detail in copies of the drinking and battle scenes. He studied at the
Berlin College of Arts and Crafts. In 1916 he changed the spelling of his name from Georg Ehrenfried Groß to George Grosz because he did not want a German name. He was a well known member of the Berlin dadaist art movement. In November 1914 Grosz volunteered for military service and was given a discharge after hospitalization for sinusitis in 1915. He died on July 6, 1959 from falling down a flight of stairs after a night of drinking. http://www.artinthepicture.com/artists/George_Grosz/Biography/
  
   The painting I chose was The Eclipse of the Sun 1926 by George Grosz. The painting was oil on canvas painting. My interpretation of the painting is that it is very political and it seems as if it focuses on greed and power. In the upper middle of the painting seems to be a leader and a man whispering in his ear. Both men look quite evil and appear to be surrounded by headless men that are around the table which looks as if they are followers of the leader. The sword with blood on the table seems as if the leader is intimidating the followers and they must do as told or suffer the consequences. Both men I feel represent as having lots of power and control. In front of the leader is a funerary cross painted red, white, and black, the colors of the former German imperial flag. On the upper left hand corner there is a dollar sign eclisping the sun which symbolizes money and a desire for wealth and growth. The donkey on the table with blinds on its eyes signify people are blindly following the leader and as they keep following will eventually fall. On the bottom right hand corner shows some sort of prison with someone behind it which I feel shows the people being trapped and can't do anything about whats going on and as the wealthy get richer the poorer gets poor and suffer the most or may represent the future. This painting exhibits inequality, corruption and as I previously stated greed and power. I did a little bit of research and found that President Paul Von Hindenburg was the president of Germany at that time and feel that he represents the leader in this painting. This painting contains varies symbolism and may be interpreted in different ways.