The Work of Otto Dix

Being a free thinker, I sometimes look at many types of art. One that is particularly striking is expressionism, which aims to convey certain emotions visually in art.

The expressionist movement in the visual arts became mainly popular in the early 1900’s, partially as a result of the first and second world wars. One of the most prominent, and the one who happens to be my favorite expressionist, is the German artist Otto Dix.

Firstly you need to have a little bit of background information on the life of Dix in order to understand the intentions of his work. Otto Dix was born and raised in Germany. The most significant part of his life (in relationship to his art) was his service in World War I. Dix continued to reflect on his experience in the first Great War and the tragedy of living during the Second World War, using this to infuse his work. Being an expressionist, much of his war related paintings and drawings (seem to) deal with negative feelings and emotions.

However, in the article “Confronting Postwar Shame in Weimar Germany: Trauma, Heroism and the War Art of Otto Dix” Paul Fox makes the case that Dix’s motivations and intentions can be easily misinterpreted by anyone who doesn’t have insight into Dix’s life.

Overall Fox feel completely certain that Dix’s work is void of any pro or anti war claims and focuses solely on personal emotional experiences rather than generalized tragedy.

Fox begins by explaining a commonly held theory in war related art, fashioned most notably by Linda McGreevy. This theory is that an artist will choose his or her war related material by prescribing to either the reactionary or pacifist camps. McGreevy specifically describes Dix’s intentions as pacifistic. A deeper analysis of Dix’s work, believes Fox, shows that this view shallow and that Dix’s meaning my have been incorrectly determined.

Being a veteran of the military Otto Dix has had lasting emotional imprint placed on his mind during his service. In light of this and of various drawings and writings he has created Fox believes it is apparent that Dix’s work on war revolves almost solely around the psychology and emotions of the soldiers during the war.

Fox gives evidence from “The Trench” a peer reviewed article that examines war related art, especially Dix’s. The article explains how Dix addresses his intended audiences, that is the veterans of war and the witnesses (militants that did not reach the front lines). Most of Dix’s expression seems to be accounting for the trauma of the veterans rather than make a statement or movement against war all together.

While it may seem that these experiences such as fear and tremendous pain (such as seen in some of his gory drawings) he also includes (some) images of better characteristics such as resilience. Dix only includes graphic images of war in ways that show how the soldiers saw or were affected by these stimuli.

Rather than making a point against war, as McGreevy describes, Dix instead is using his appeal and talent to highlight veterans issues, mainly those of (what we call now) post-traumatic stress disorder and the strength required by the soldiers to mentally survive what they have been presented with.

Fox, Paul. “Confronting Postwar Shame in Weimar Germany: Trauma, Heroism and the War Art of Otto Dix.” Oxford Art Journal. 2006. http://oaj.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/29/2/247