PROVENANCE
Studio of the artist, Berlin, 1928
Collection of J.B. Neumann
Acquired from the above by Mr. and Mrs. Speiser in 1935
Jerrold Morris Gallery, Toronto
Acquired from the above by the current Private Collection, Toronto, 1960s

EXHIBITED
Pennsylvania Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Loan Exhibition of Contemporary Paintings from the Collection of Mr. & Mrs. Maurice J. Speiser, January 13 - February 14, 1934, exhibited as "Figure Composition", catalogue #42

Throughout his career as an artist, Grosz was always interested in depicting erotic subjects. This started as early as 1912 with his move from Dresden to the metropolis Berlin and culminated in large drawings and watercolours in the late twenties.

In “Toilette”, the artist acts in the role of a voyeur, watching a naked woman combing her hair in front of a mirror. She stands beyond the pulled draw-string drape beneath an electric light bulb. It is obviously the bedroom of the woman, as one can see an alarm clock and a post of the bed. He himself is undiscovered, peeping from a safe place through the window of his neighbour. What heightens the erotic kick is the fact that the woman acts innocently and freely, not knowing that her nakedness and her movements are being watched by a peeping Tom.

Grosz started and finished the work with watercolour, working wet into wet, using only few lines of the thin pen and ink for some contours.



We thank Ralph Jentsch, author of George Grosz: The Berlin Years, for contributing the above information. Ralph Jentsch has confirmed the authenticity of this work.



Please note: this work is unframed.

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