Otto Dix

The grimness of Otto Dix's artwork has long been intriguing to me. The new vibe of this blog owes a huge debt to Dix's morose work. I've always felt a kinship with artists like Dix who don't quite fit with any certain movements, but gain cult status from the morbid nature of their work. I couldn't find many resources with high quality scans, so I had to settle for posting what bits and pieces I could find. The most compelling piece of Dix's for me, personally, is his masterpiece War (Triptych). Here's some bio information:

"Otto Dix (1891-1969), the great German Expressionist, was famous for his unique and grotesque style. Although Hitler's Nazi regime destroyed many of Otto Dix's works, the majority of his paintings can still be seen in museums throughout Germany.

Dix was, like many young German men of the time, initially a supporter of the war; so much so that he volunteered in 1915 at the age of 24. He was placed in an artillery regiment based near his hometown of Dresden. The unit was sent to the Western Front, where Dix fought in the Battle of the Somme in 1916. He was wounded several times on the Western Front. In 1917, he was transferred to the Eastern Front until the armistice with Russia later that year. His unit then went back to the Western Front and took part in the German spring offensive. Dix was decorated for his service; but his experiences had affected him deeply.

Those experiences triggered recurring nightmares, which in turn fed into the images he produced in War.

After the war, he flirted with both the German Expressionists and Dadaists; although his desire to use a more realistic style made him a poor fit for those groups. He became known not just as a war artist, but also as a social commentator; pointing out some of the less desirable aspects of life during the Weimar Republic (1919 – 1933). These included paintings and drawings depicting amputee veterans of the war begging on Berlin’s streets.

With the rise of Hitler, Dix was branded as a “degenerate” artist; and some of his works were burned by the Nazis. In 1939, he was arrested on the grounds of being involved in a plot against Hitler. Although he was later released, most commentators concur that Dix was not involved and that the arrest was a fit-up.

Perhaps ironically, Dix was conscripted towards the end of World War II into the Volkssturm (the German equivalent of the Home Guard), was captured by French troops and spent time as a prisoner-of-war before being released in February 1946. He continued to paint, with his allegorical depictions of post-war suffering again prominent; although he also turned to religious themes in his later years. Dix died in the southern town of Singen (then in West Germany) near the shores of Lake Constance in 1969."

Portraits - 

War (Sketches and Paintings) - 

 

War Triptych (High Res Above)