Metropolis by George Grosz

 

https://www.museothyssen.org/coleccion/artistas/grosz-george/metropolis

Shared by Mª Margarita Sánchez:

I like using Metropolis by George Grosz. It was painted in 1916, a period of changes and war. 

Everything had changed: jobs, industry, society...The art at that time is a consequence of this situation. To do this activity I use 3D glasses and the students will immerse into the painting and can move between people and buildings. It is amazing. They experience the life at that moment, walking the streets, looking at people´s faces, and living the chaotic situation as if they were at any European city during the World War I. 

Then, once they visit a city in 1916, they need to write the experience and link the situation and emotions to the Great War, how the people live at that time and the artistic resources that Grosz used to express so dramatic moment. This activity is very useful to learn artistic vocabulary, leading the students to the awareness of how Art is a reflection of History.