Carl Grossberg: New Forms in the World of Technology

An overview of the paintings, drawings, and prints of the New Objectivity painter Carl Grossberg, who depicted German industry between the wars.

Carl Grossberg’s (1894–1940) painting career was bracketed by the two world wars. He drew his subject matter from “the enormous wealth of new forms in the world of technology,” recognizing both its potential and its dangers. The publication examines the paintings, drawings, and prints of the German New Objectivity painter in the Merrill C. Berman Collection.

Long associated with the German New Objectivity movement of the 1920s, Grossberg is revered for his precise paintings of industry devoid of human figures but vibrant with color. His Dream Pictures envision industrial settings inhabited by unexpected creatures, such as monkeys, bats, and birds, which act to destabilize the certainty of such materialized rationalism. This lavishly illustrated book takes an unprecedented object-based approach and focuses on the work’s reception during the artist’s lifetime. It highlights his Bauhaus training, his interrelated practices as a painter and interior designer, the centrality of commissions, and his relationship with the National Socialist regime after 1933. It is a robust study of Carl Grossberg’s work and life with a full scholarly armature including historical photographs, documents, and publications.

Adrian Sudhalter is research curator for the Merrill C. Berman Collection, New York. Previously she held curatorial positions at Harvard and at MoMA.

Mary E. Bauer is a PhD candidate in art history at The Graduate Center, City University of New York.

Joe Bucciero is a PhD candidate in the department of art and archaeology at Princeton University.

Jeffrey F. Hamburger is the Kuno Francke Professor of German Art and Culture at Harvard University.

Olaf Peters is professor of modern and contemporary art history at the Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg.