GENERAL DESCRIPTION
George Grosz investigated downtown Dallas from street level, peering up at rising skyscrapers, and also from high above the city, where he captured a bird's-eye view of downtown Dallas, perhaps from the top of the Mercantile Bank Building, then still the tallest structure in the city. The contrast between the dense energy of the city's center and the vast emptiness of its periphery in The Growing City echoes the well-worn "origin myth" of Dallas as a city that owed its existence to the relentless energy and commercial ambitions of its business leaders.
Excerpt from
Heather MacDonald, Flower of the Prairie: George Grosz in Dallas (Dallas: Dallas Museum of Art, 2012), 56.
NOTES
Created in 1952
Heather MacDonald, DMA label copy, 2012:
Grosz investigated Dallas from both street level and high above the city, where he captured this bird's-eye view of downtown Dallas. He may have been at the top of the Mercantile Bank Building, then still the tallest structure in the city. The contrast between the dense energy of the city's center and the vast emptiness of its periphery echoes the well-worn myth of Dallas as a city that owed its existence not to any natural features of the prairie landscape but rather to the relentless energy and commercial ambitions of its business leaders.
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Depicted location: Dallas (Texas/United States): TGN: 7013503
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
1952-1960: A. Harris and Company
From 1960: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, gift of A. Harris and Company in memory of Leon A. Harris, Sr. [1]
[1] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.
AUDIO ASSETS
UMO: 13310072 The History and Culture of George Grosz's Dallas, Gallery talk by Carol Roark
UMO: 13310104 Reflections on George Grosz, Gallery talk with Marty Grosz, George Grosz's son
UMO: 13310145 Flower of the Prairie: George Grosz in Dallas, Gallery talk by Alan Govenar
UMO: 13316195 Frontier Fantasies Meet Frontier Realities: George Grosz in Dallas in 1952, Late Night Lecture by Barbara McCloskey
UMO: 13317549 Flower of the Prairie: George Grosz in Dallas, Gallery talk by Dr. Heather MacDonald
VIDEO ASSETS
IMAGE ASSETS
WEB RESOURCES
- Texas State Historical Association~Read about the history of Dallas from the Handbook of Texas Online.
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES
FUN FACTS
- In the 1920s the population of Dallas was around 160,000. By the 1950s, when this watercolor was created, the population had risen to over 430,000.
TEACHING IDEAS
RULES
Apply to objects where number equals 1960.128
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General Description
George Grosz investigated downtown Dallas from street level, peering up at rising skyscrapers, and also from high above the city, where he captured a bird's-eye view of downtown Dallas, perhaps from the top of the Mercantile Bank Building, then still the tallest structure in the city. The contrast between the dense energy of the city's center and the vast emptiness of its periphery in The Growing City echoes the well-worn "origin myth" of Dallas as a city that owed its existence to the relentless energy and commercial ambitions of its business leaders.
Excerpt from
Heather MacDonald, Flower of the Prairie: George Grosz in Dallas (Dallas: Dallas Museum of Art, 2012), 56.
Fun Facts
- In the 1920s the population of Dallas was around 160,000. By the 1950s, when this watercolor was created, the population had risen to over 430,000.
Archival Resources
Web Resources
- Texas State Historical Association~Read about the history of Dallas from the Handbook of Texas Online.
Notes
Created in 1952
Heather MacDonald, DMA label copy, 2012:
Grosz investigated Dallas from both street level and high above the city, where he captured this bird's-eye view of downtown Dallas. He may have been at the top of the Mercantile Bank Building, then still the tallest structure in the city. The contrast between the dense energy of the city's center and the vast emptiness of its periphery echoes the well-worn myth of Dallas as a city that owed its existence not to any natural features of the prairie landscape but rather to the relentless energy and commercial ambitions of its business leaders.
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Depicted location: Dallas (Texas/United States): TGN: 7013503
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
1952-1960: A. Harris and Company
From 1960: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, gift of A. Harris and Company in memory of Leon A. Harris, Sr. [1]
[1] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.
AUDIO ASSETS
UMO: 13310072 The History and Culture of George Grosz's Dallas, Gallery talk by Carol Roark
UMO: 13310104 Reflections on George Grosz, Gallery talk with Marty Grosz, George Grosz's son
UMO: 13310145 Flower of the Prairie: George Grosz in Dallas, Gallery talk by Alan Govenar
UMO: 13316195 Frontier Fantasies Meet Frontier Realities: George Grosz in Dallas in 1952, Late Night Lecture by Barbara McCloskey
UMO: 13317549 Flower of the Prairie: George Grosz in Dallas, Gallery talk by Dr. Heather MacDonald
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