Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts
Montgomery, AL
Hans Grohs (German, 1892–1981) was an extremely prolific artist. One thread linking many of the German Expressionist and poet’s works is his interest in examining death.
This exhibition highlights prints from two bodies of work exploring this theme: Ein Totentanz, 1917–1919 and ABC of Death, 1924. Grohs, a man of deep and abiding faith, had a close relationship with death; first, he lived through two world wars and survived cruel Nazi atrocities, and second, Grohs tragically lost his first wife to childbirth after only two years of marriage.
In these woodcuts, Grohs evokes the medieval subject of “The Dance of Death” while using them as a way to express his grief. In both bodies of work he depicts the fragility of life and inevitable death. However, the ABC of Death also metaphorically investigates a way forward. For Grohs, these masterpieces ultimately functioned as a meditative prayer.
Exhibition overview from museum website.
Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts
Montgomery, AL