Imre Goth

1893 - 1982

 Imre Goth lived in Berlin during the whole period of the Weimar Republic – from the Great War until the rise of National Socialism.

The 1920s in Germany were often referred to as the “Golden Twenties”. Although times were hard for most of the population, for the young artist establishing his reputation, there could hardly have been a more exciting time and place.

 After the hardships of war and the problems of peace, artists in Germany abandoned pre-war fantasies of Expressionism. Realism was the new subject – everyday life. Though less bizarre than the great avant-garde artists of the time, Goth produced works that are a vivid and humorous chronicle of a young man having the time of his life.

 It was in this period that the young Jewish artist was commissioned to paint the portrait of Hermann Goering – who would go on to be a leading figure in Nazi Germany. The story goes that Goering was infuriated by Goth’s depiction of him as a morphine addict that it was a main reason Goth moved to England at the time, afraid for his life.

Goth was a part of the artistic and intellectual exodus from Germany in the 1930s. As an enemy of the state with the rise of Nazi Germany, he found refuge in England where he quickly re-established his career as a society portrait painter. He befriended film producer Alexander Korda, giving him an entry into the British showbiz world. He would go on to become particular noted for his fashionable drawings of film stars.

Goth was also an inventor too and is credited for the some of the first designs for parachutes, the non-drip device inside bottles and car lights for cars. 

(Barkes + Barkes, 1994, ‘Imre Goth – A Young Artist in Berlin in the 1920s’)