Perhaps it is too obvious that the manifold pleasures of the world (as well all manner of infelicities, not to mention horrors) mostly come at you without introduction or warning. Max is a compelling film starring John Cusack as Max Rothman, an Austrian Army veteran who lost an arm at the Battle of Ypres in World War I, and, as an affluent Jewish modern art dealer in post-Great War Vienna, meets and befriends struggling artist Adolf Hitler. Rothman also represented up-and-coming Berlin painter George Grosz, who later went on to great attention as a Berlin Dadaist and New Objectivist.

The images used in the film were my first introduction to Grosz's work. Fortunately, last month Skira released a robust new packaging of George Grosz: Berlin-New York by Ralph Jentsch, the director of the Grosz estate (Grosz died in 1959). This lush and comprehensive monograph includes over 500 illustrations, drawings, and paintings. Additionally, there are previously unpublished personal photographs of the painter and two essays by Grosz scholars Enrico Crispolti and Philippe Dagen.