Greed/"Eclipse of the Sun"
George Grosz’ painting "Eclipse of the Sun" (1926) serves as a portrayal of the proletarian oppression of the lower class by politicians. The depiction of the bureaucrats manipulating other people in power demonstrates their actions of misleading government officials and imprisoning people who may be against them. The colorfully dressed man represents the head of government and the man whispering in his ear represents the upper class, showing that the head of government listens to the wealthy man. Through the image of the upper class man carrying weapons, the artist shows that the wealthy has forsaken morality to sell weapons, ignoring the fragility of life for their own gain. As for the headless men, they are government officials, their missing heads representing the detachment of one’s personal ideas and beliefs for the sake of power and money. Meanwhile, voters are blind to the actual workings of their government, only fed what the government chooses to show them.
The dollar sign in the background on the sun represents the overwhelming and always present desire for money. By depicting the American dollar as the sun, the bureaucrats around the table are given strength/energy to perform their devious work. In contrast to the anti-Semitic conspiracies elsewhere in this exhibit, this is a depiction of greed as a kind of conspiratorial motivator itself.
