Otto Dix

 Selbstbildnis als Soldat (Self-Portrait as a Soldier)

Artist: Otto Dix

Media: Ink and water color on paper

Dimensions: 68 x 53.5cm

  Date: 1914

Selbstbildnis mit Artillerie-Helm (Self-Portrait Wearing a Gunner's Helmet)

Artist: Otto Dix

Media: Ink and water color on paper

Dimensions: 68 x 53.5cm

Date: 1914

Wilhelm Heinrich Otto Dix was born in Germany in 1891. When Otto was ten he modeled for painter Fritz Amann, the experience compelled Otto to become a painter himself. During his studies Otto looked up to painters such as Vincent Van Gogh, and so he began painting portraits and landscapes. When the First World War began, he volunteered and was drafted as a machine gunner. Though being wounded in battle Otto was able to create many sketches of what he witnessed in battle. When the war ended Otto was appointed a member of the Prussian Academy of Arts and was able to show his work all over Germany. When the Second World War broke out Otto was forced to join the Nazi Reich Chamber of Fine Arts, where he was sent to paint rural landscapes. In 1939 ha was arrested for conspiracy against Adolf Hitler but the charges were dropped. He was later captured by the French and imprisoned until 1946. Once released he picked up painting right where he left off when the war began. More info

"Art is exorcism. I paint dreams and visions too; the dreams and visions of my time. Painting is the effort to produce order; order in yourself. There is much chaos in me, much chaos in our time." 

- Otto Dix

These two paintings are connected, they are both painted on the same paper, one on the front and one on the back. The front side contains Selbstbildnis als Soldat (Self-Portrait as a Soldier) this painting was made when Otto first joined the gunners brigade. In it we see bright colors with a proud, strong looking Otto. Some time later after seeing the horrors of battle, Otto painted another self portrait, Selbstbildnis mit Artillerie-Helm (Self-Portrait Wearing a Gunner's Helmet), In this painting Otto's image has changed dramatically, he now looks smaller almost sickly. His eyes are dead and the atmosphere of the painting is very dark. The horrors of war had a lasting effect on Otto, of which he never got over.