Otto Dix
German painter and printmaker of the Neue Sachlichkeit, known for unflinching depictions of war and Weimar society.
Hans-Joachim Koch · via Wikipedia: Otto Dix · CC BY-SA 4.0
Dix, together with Max Beckmann and George Grosz, is broadly regarded as a key figure of the Neue Sachlichkeit movement.[1] Dix's birthplace was Untermhaus, Germany, a locality that today belongs to the city of Gera in Thuringia.[2]
Quick Facts
- Birth name
- Wilhelm Heinrich Otto Dix
- Born
- 2 December 1891
- Birthplace
- Untermhaus, Reuß-Gera, German Empire
- Died
- 25 July 1969
- Place of death
- Singen, Baden-Württemberg, West Germany
- Spouse
- Martha Dix (1923)
- Field
- Painting, printmaking
- Movement
- Expressionism
- New objectivity
- Dada
Facts from the source article.
Life and work
Dix was the eldest son of an iron foundry worker and a seamstress, and his cousin Fritz Amann, a painter, helped form his ambition to be an artist.[2] From 1906 until 1910, Dix undertook an apprenticeship under the painter Carl Senff.[2] At the outbreak of World War I, Dix enlisted in the German Army and was placed with a field artillery regiment based in Dresden.[3] The war left a deep impression on Dix; he later spoke of a persistent nightmare in which he crawled through ruined houses.[4]
His wartime trauma found expression in a 1924 publication, a portfolio of fifty etchings titled Der Krieg.[4] In 1920, Dix became acquainted with George Grosz and, under the influence of Dada, started to integrate collage techniques into his artwork.[5] Dix wed Martha Koch, a metalsmith, in 1923; she often sat for his portraits.[6]
What the cited sources add
A 2014 Guardian article notes that Dix joined the German army as a fierce patriot in 1914 and was mowing down British soldiers at the Somme two years later.[7] The same article states that Dix's war engravings were shown in an anti-war exhibition in 1924.[7] The Tate also notes that Dix served in the First World War from 1915, fighting on the Western front in the Battle of the Somme.[8] The Neue Galerie New York holds Neue Sachlichkeit material including works by Otto Dix.[9]
References
- Wikipedia, "Otto Dix" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Tate, "Five things to know: Otto Dix – List", Tate (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Otto Dix" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: York, "Neue Galerie New York", neuegalerie.org; Karcher 1988, pp. 21–24.; Karcher 1988, pp. 21–24. (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Otto Dix" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Karcher 1988, p. 251. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Otto Dix" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Jones, "The first world war in German art: Otto Dix's first-hand visions of horror", The Guardian, 14 May 2014 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Otto Dix" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Michalski, "Neue Sachlichkeit: Malerei, Graphik und Photographie in Deutschland 1919–1933", Taschen, 2003 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Otto Dix" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Rewald, "Glitter and Doom: German Portraits from the 1920s", Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2006, p. 249 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Jones, "The first world war in German art: Otto Dix's first-hand visions of horror", The Guardian, 14 May 2014. facts only, no text reused. theguardian.com
- Tate, "Five things to know: Otto Dix – List", Tate. facts only, no text reused. tate.org.uk
- York, "Neue Galerie New York", neuegalerie.org. facts only, no text reused. neuegalerie.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Otto Dix (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
More in Artists & Composers
Elsewhere in Historical Figures
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced
