Otto Dix. Social Criticism 1920–1924 | War, Etchings 1924
Otto Dix spent World War I on the front lines. From 1914 to 1918, he made over 600 drawings at various theatres of war in Belgium, France, and Russia. These records of the war together with his memories are the fundament of his series of etchings "Der Krieg" (War), published in 1924 by Karl Nierendorf. It is not only an authentic and horrifying portrayal of the terrible trench warfare in World War I — it also unmasks war for what it truly is.
119 Stops
Colombo , Sri Lanka
JDA Perera Gallery
2023
02.11–30.11
Tiflis, Georgia
Window Project
2023
16.06–03.09
Yerevan, Armenia
Henrik Igityan National Centre for Aesthetics
2023
03.05–28.05
Artists
2 Contributors
Eugen Keuerleber,
Concept
Nina Frohm,
Project Management ifa
About the exhibiton
The War portfolio consists of 50 works and is often likened to Goya’s “Desastres de la Guerra”. War ranks particularly high among the major works of Dix’s oeuvre, and is the center of attention in this exhibition. Dix’s series “Social Criticism” with its focus on marginalized social groups in the post World War I era, such as prostitutes or amputee war veterans, also caused a furore and met with the strong disapproval of his con-temporaries. It was never Otto Dix’s ambition to change people through his art. However, his drawings and paintings of the war soon attracted the attention of the Nazis. When Hitler seized power in 1933 Dix was one of the first Academy professors to be removed from his position and was also forbidden to exhibit his work.
Dix once said as a young man “I will either be famous or infamous”. He became both.