Suicide 1916, George GroszThe painting shows a man that is dead and theres a gun just above him showing that he killed himself. it seems as if he has been dead for quite some time because you can see the bones on his skull. It also shows him grining as if he is relieved and released from suffering. His eyes are closed showing that he is sleeping peacefully. It shows a man passing by the corpse with his face not shown in the painting perhaps concealing his identity. There is another man in the left hand side it appears he is hanging from a lamppost. He has no features on his face and I feel that it represents shame. There is a prostitute in the upper middle section and i feel as if she is advertising herself. In the background there seems to be some sort of church that is shining the color of gold. It seems as if a dog is blocking the way towards the church making it harder to reach. It shows the streets to be red signifying depression. Among the commotion in this painting the corpse seems to go unnoticed as though his death is already forgotten.
The Love Sick Man 1916, George GroszThe gun, right below his heart maybe an indication of suicide over love. He is so miserable he is capable of senseless acts. The empty chairs signify he is lonely and maybe wanting companionship. The pipe and liqour signify him drowning out his sorrows. The letters on the table may appear to be letters written from someone he loves. The dog at his feet appears sick and maybe a stray and a qoute comes to mind "misery loves company". The bones at the bottom right corner and fish bones symbolizing lack of nutrition. Also the one sign of life, the plant at the top corner, lacks any leaves or flowers.
Hi Jasmine,
ReplyDeleteYou did a good job explaining the Suicide art, but what does it all mean? When all of the bits and pieces of the painting come together what's the general idea here? May be it signifies a period of time in which suicide was rampant because of frustration. Maybe the church is signifying that religion was not able to pacify all the the uncertainties and fears they faced so they turned to prostitution or sexual pleasure as a way to obtain some satisfaction, but even that could have been shameful when exposed. I am just guessing here.
I find your meaning of the painting very interesting. I feel that this is what he saw during the time he was at war. He tried to commit suicide and his experience of the war enormously intensified these feeling.The man visiting the prostitute reflects the pervasive moral corruption in Berlin during the war years.
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