2000-432: Ich Bin Prophet (I am the prophet)

Art © Estate of George Grosz/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY
Art © Estate of George Grosz/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY
Art © Estate of George Grosz/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY
Art © Estate of George Grosz/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY

Ich Bin Prophet (I am the prophet), ca. 1923

Recto: black ink
Verso: black ink and graphite
62.7 x 50 cm (24 11/16 x 19 11/16 in.)
Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Albert L. Rosenthal
2000-432
Art © Estate of George Grosz/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY
In 1919, Grosz cofounded, edited, and illustrated Die Pleite (Bankruptcy), an inflammatory political journal published by Malik-Verlag. The reverse side of this sheet bears a study for the artist’s caricature of Freidrich Ebert, President of the Weimar Republic, published in the July 1923 issue of Die Pleite; the cryptic drawing above portrays a young man with boards screwed to his eyes, wearing the white shirt, neckerchief, and athletic shorts of a member of the Young Pioneers, a Soviet youth organization formed in 1922.