Hintergrund. 17 Zeichnungen zur Aufführung des 'Schwejk' (Svejk) in der Piscator-Bühne
Grosz, George
Berlin. Malik-Verlag. 1928
George Grosz's satirical plates - complete with those censored at the time - for Erwin Piscator's 1928 theatre production of Jaroslav Hasek's 'The Good Soldier Svejk'.
'The Good Soldier Svejk', Jaroslav Hasek's farcical First World War satire, was an obvious source for George Grosz, exemplifying many of the characteristics that feature in other of his illustrated books and portfolios. The 17 drawings presented here were made by Grosz for the sets of a ground-breaking theatre production of 'The Good Soldier Svejk' directed by Erwin Piscator (with the collaboration of Max Brod, Bertolt Brecht and others) that was also to include animated film. The original novel, with its inordinate drunkenness, obscenity and idiocy and featuring the eponymous Svejk, is a farcical collection of incidents centred on the 91st Infantry Regiment (which was Hasek's own regiment) during the march to the Galician front in the First World War. Although Hasek presents Svejk as an apparent idiot, Svejk's deportment and superb command of irony combine to create comic situations and satirical observations of a highly amusing sort.
The protagonist and characters of Svejk in their present iteration - Grosz is thought to have made around 300 drawings for the production - appear, at least initially, akin to the iconic images created by Max Brod, the first illustrator of Svejk and friend of its author Hasek. Grosz goes further however and begins to illustrate the tone of the book and the background ideas that are less than explicit in the original text. Grosz's illustrations reveal a corruption and savagery - and an anti-clerical tone - that is largely absent in the original interpretations and his work leans more towards the imagery of Goya or Dix.
The anti-clerical tone of several of the plates - lacking in many but all present in this copy - caused a scandal and Grosz and Wieland Herzfeld (the publisher of the Malik Verlag) were charged with blasphemy. Plate 2 ('seid untertan der Obrigkeit' - Be subjects of the authorities) depicts a priest with arms raised, balancing a crucifix on his nose; plate 9('Die Ausschüttung des heiligen Geistes' - The outpouring of the Holy Ghost) shows a priest producing bullets and matériel from his mouth while preaching from a pulpit; plate 10 ('Maul halten und weiter dienen' - Shut up and continue to serve) depicts the crucified Christ holding a crucifix and wearing military boots and a gas mask. Although Grosz and Herzfelde were acquitted, the scandalous drawings were hidden for many years before their acquisition by Berlin's 'Akademie der Künste'.
'The Good Soldier Svejk', Jaroslav Hasek's farcical First World War satire, was an obvious source for George Grosz, exemplifying many of the characteristics that feature in other of his illustrated books and portfolios. The 17 drawings presented here were made by Grosz for the sets of a ground-breaking theatre production of 'The Good Soldier Svejk' directed by Erwin Piscator (with the collaboration of Max Brod, Bertolt Brecht and others) that was also to include animated film. The original novel, with its inordinate drunkenness, obscenity and idiocy and featuring the eponymous Svejk, is a farcical collection of incidents centred on the 91st Infantry Regiment (which was Hasek's own regiment) during the march to the Galician front in the First World War. Although Hasek presents Svejk as an apparent idiot, Svejk's deportment and superb command of irony combine to create comic situations and satirical observations of a highly amusing sort.
The protagonist and characters of Svejk in their present iteration - Grosz is thought to have made around 300 drawings for the production - appear, at least initially, akin to the iconic images created by Max Brod, the first illustrator of Svejk and friend of its author Hasek. Grosz goes further however and begins to illustrate the tone of the book and the background ideas that are less than explicit in the original text. Grosz's illustrations reveal a corruption and savagery - and an anti-clerical tone - that is largely absent in the original interpretations and his work leans more towards the imagery of Goya or Dix.
The anti-clerical tone of several of the plates - lacking in many but all present in this copy - caused a scandal and Grosz and Wieland Herzfeld (the publisher of the Malik Verlag) were charged with blasphemy. Plate 2 ('seid untertan der Obrigkeit' - Be subjects of the authorities) depicts a priest with arms raised, balancing a crucifix on his nose; plate 9('Die Ausschüttung des heiligen Geistes' - The outpouring of the Holy Ghost) shows a priest producing bullets and matériel from his mouth while preaching from a pulpit; plate 10 ('Maul halten und weiter dienen' - Shut up and continue to serve) depicts the crucified Christ holding a crucifix and wearing military boots and a gas mask. Although Grosz and Herzfelde were acquitted, the scandalous drawings were hidden for many years before their acquisition by Berlin's 'Akademie der Künste'.
[18 leaves]. Oblong 8vo. (178 x 268 mm). Leaf with title, imprint verso and 17 monochrome plates by George Grosz, each recto only with number at lower right and caption from Hasek's translated text, all after his original drawings. Loose as issued in original publisher's paper portfolio with flaps, monochrome illustration and manuscript title in black after Grosz to front cover.
#48514
