Nov 15, 2007

Portrait of a Woman

Portrait of a Woman

1923

Otto Dix

(German, 1891–1969)

Lithograph

Gift of The Print Club of Cleveland 1954.349

Catalogue raisonné: Karsch 62

Location

Description

Otto Dix portrayed urban inhabitants in postwar Germany in a brutal and unforgiving manner. This woman is dressed in the finest fashions, her hair stylishly cropped and her outfit adorned with a fur collar and a heron-feathered hat. Yet her mouth has been slashed into a grotesque smile, a sign of a vicious attack that was commonly carried out by street gangs, particularly on prostitutes. Dix mercilessly satirized postwar society with images of prostitutes bloated from the profits of their own commerce—among the many bodies victimized by the moral and physical corruption of war.

See also
Collection: 
PR - Lithograph
Department: 
Prints
Type of artwork: 
Print
Medium: 
Lithograph

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