The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 24, 2024
The War: Dead Men before the Position near Tahure
1924
(German, 1891–1969)
printed by
(German)
published by
Sheet: 35.3 x 47.5 cm (13 7/8 x 18 11/16 in.); Platemark: 19 x 25.2 cm (7 1/2 x 9 15/16 in.)
© Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn
Catalogue raisonné: Karsch 119b
Location: not on view
Description
Otto Dix married technique and expression in these painfully candid images of war from a portfolio of 50 prints. He exploited the corrosive qualities of the acid used to etch the copper plate by promoting a grainy unevenness, which reinforces the physical and moral decay in his horrific yet ordinary scenes of war. Nihilistic and brutal, Dix’s images match the Expressionists’ desire for raw truth. At times, they also call upon traditional iconography, such as the skulls, or memento mori (reminder of death), in Dead Men before the Position near Tahure.Dix called war both “horrible” and “tremendous,” and viewed the artist’s role as that of a witness: “No, artists are not there to reform and convert. They are far too little for that. They must testify.”- Graphic Discontent: German Expressionism on Paper. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (January 14-May 27, 2018).
- {{cite web|title=The War: Dead Men before the Position near Tahure |url=false|author=Otto Dix, Otto Felsing, Karl Nierendorf|year=1924|access-date=24 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2013.19