| George Grosz | ||||
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First
Issue Second
Issue |
- Moralist versus
The Church The artist George Grosz, himself a soldier of the First World War, attacked the idea of war, and its supporters, throughout the 1920's. One of the main targets in Grosz's satire was the Church, whom he saw as not standing up for the true teachings of Christ. He showed, through his art, the ridiculous irony of the institution of Christian religion supporting the idea of war. The first clear example of Grosz's commentry on the Church appeared in his 1920 work, 'The Three Pillars of Society'. This clearly showed the decadence of the Army, the school, and the Church. The Church was represented in this drawing by a single figure with duelling scars on his cheek and cross in hand, surrounded by members of the army racing forward with guns. The painting of 1926, 'Pillars of Society', showed a priest representing the Church, blessing' everything without discrimination. The position in the Church hadn't changed; so neither did the comment.
In 1922 Grosz continued the theme of the Church supporting war in the drawing 'They Thunder Sweetness and Light'. His comment is even more clearly aimed at criticising Priests allover the world, not just in Germany. The universal figure of the priest is portrayed praying for victory while dead soldiers scatter the ground beneath his feet. The title of the portfolio to which the work belongs, 'God on our side', makes very direct reference to the same irony. The most notable attacks on the Church came in 1927, when George Grosz worked on Erwin Piscator's production of 'The Good Soldier Schweik' (itself to satirize priesthood in the figure of drunken Father Ottokatz). The production was a remarkable financial and theatrical success. Grosz made 300 drawings for the production which were converted to cartoon film to be used as a backdrop. From the production, seventeen drawings were published as the portfolio 'Hintergrund' (background). The three drawings that were most discussed were further references to the Church's attitude to war. One plate showed a priest standing with grimfaced representatives of the army and the law and belancing a crucifix on the end of nose; and another, with the caption 'The outpouring of the Holy Spirit', depicted a churchman in his pulpit, exhaling guns and bayonets instead of a gospel of love. The most discussed work of the three showed the figure of Christ on a cross wearing a gasmask and army boots, for which George Grosz, as artist, and Wieland Herzfelde as publisher, were tried for blasphemy; which he had been tried for before, in 1923, for another drawing. .
Much of his feelings about the Church and his own personal beliefs came out in the beginning of the 1928 trial:
Prosecutor: Herr Grosz, do you consider yourself a religious man? Grosz: Yes. Prosecutor: Are you a church-goer? Grosz: No. Prosecutor: Then in what way are you religious? Grosz: I believe fundamentally in the teaching of Christ but I percieve religion as a marvellous myth. I was brought up in the faith and was a nominal member of the Protestant Church until the first blasphemy trial. After that I left the Church. Prosecutor: Why was that? Grosz: Because the Church did not defend me; I stand here defenceless at this trial. Prosecutor: Perhaps it was because it was the Church and indeed our very faith that you disregard and attack; Christ in a gasmask and army boots. Grosz: Herr Prosecutor, this is familiar territory for us both. I've said it before and I say it again. My work is inconceivable without the times; its horrors, its corruption, its anarchy and its injustice. My intention was to fight against the idea of war, and attack any actions on the part of the Church that lent support to that idea of war.
The view of the prosecutor, however, prevailed, and the court interpreted the title as the words of Christ, arguing that the cross in the hand of Christ gave this effect. Therefore Christ in spite of his own sacrifice had nothing better to offer to mankind as a kind of consolation than the utterance "Shut your mouth and do your duty!" This false transformation of Grosz's intention poroduced the verdict of Guilty. He appealed, and the case was re-heard. For the next two years Grosz was in and out of the courtrooms. When he was found guilty by the prosecution they appealed, when he was found innocent the prosecution appealed. The first appeal court appreciated the true message which Grosz was trying to portray and stated; "This is what the Christ in whose name you support war looks like". After the two years in the courts they were finally acquitted on most of the charges. By this time, however, it waf too late; Hitler's troops were already on the streets. Grosz stated that when Hitler climbed to the top of the pile, "I felt like a boxer who had lost, all we had done had been done in vain". The people, the army, and the Church, failed to heed his warnings.
AB |
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Paragraph 166 of the
criminal code, "for insulting institutions of the Church", was the grounds
on which the prosecution based their case. The most literal translation of
the German title of the drawing is the blunt, "shut your mouth and do your
duty!" Meaning that if Christ came to Earth in the Weimar period of Germany,
(and most anywhere else), with 'Love Thy Neighbour', that would have been
the replay.