Otto Dix, an expressionist artist. Biography, creativity, famous paintings

The twentieth century gave a tremendous impetus to the development of art. This is the time of many new directions and ideas. Only in the last century, finally, art appeared before us without limitations and embellishments, was able to expose all the vices and problems of our life. Famous German artists have made a great contribution to world art. Otto Dix is one of them.

Biography of Otto Dix

Wilhelm Heinrich Otto Dix is an artist, and one of the most talented, however undeservedly forgotten. His life was no less fascinating than art, so now more is being written about him.

Otto was born in 1891 in Germany, where he lived his whole life. He was from the family of the worker, but he could go to the Academy of Arts, which for the first time was imbued with expressionism. Avant-garde painting made a strong impression on the young artist, and he devoted his life to her.

When the First World War began, Dix experienced very much. Volunteer went to war Otto Dix. The artist was able to take out of it a truly valuable experience. For those years he created about 600 drawings that showed all the horrors of the war. For this, and criticized a young talented person, because it should depict war heroes, not people.

In his personal life, the artist was constant: he married fairly early and raised five children. The family has always supported the artist, even in periods when the authorities did not accept him.

Successes and failures in work

In 1919, he became the founder of the Dresden Secession. In 1823, he was accused of pornography by Otto Dix. The artist, fortunately, easily got off, because the head of the Academy himself stood up for him. Nevertheless, Dix was recognized by the Society of Artists, was a professor at the Dresden Art Academy and a member of the Prussian Academy in Berlin. He was one of the leading artists before the Nazis came to power.

In 1933, Otto was removed from the Dresden Academy, it was forbidden to exhibit his paintings. Nevertheless, the artist did not leave the country. During the Second World War, Dix was even called to the front, although he was already at that time 53. However, he no longer wanted to fight and soon surrendered to the French.

After the war, Otto again began to exhibit paintings, but they did not fit in any direction of that time, although they received high marks. The artist lived until 1969 and even in recent years did not abandon his craft.

Creative periods

Perhaps, sometimes it is difficult to determine to which direction this or that work of Dix belongs. One can say one thing: expressionism and avant-gardism were present in his work almost always. Sometimes they were mixed with elements of realism ("Self-Portrait with a Muse") or Cubism ("The Seller of matches").

The direction of the new materiality, which in the 20-30's. XX century. Fond of expressionist artists, and captured Otto Dix. Colleagues and connoisseurs of art have always supported him. Expressionist artists of that time, although they wrote in the same genre, but did not do it with such an expression, so Otto stood out among them.

After dismissal, the artist began to write on a religious theme. It was during this period that Dix created one of his outstanding paintings - "7 Deadly Sins."

After the Second World War, Otto Dix had already abandoned abstract art and social themes, continuing, however, to adhere to Expressionism, as in his early works. Basically now his paintings depicted landscapes and religious subjects. As the artist said, he was interested not so much in how he portrays the picture, how much that is painted on it and what is the meaning of it. His expressionist paintings can in fact be called very emotional, and they capture the spirit even among non-professionals.

The coming of glory

During his lifetime, Otto Dix could not win wide fame for connoisseurs. On the contrary, the public did not like him because he depicted life on his canvases as it is. As the artist himself said, he sought to create a portrait of the era without any embellishment and partiality, for which, apparently, disliked his contemporaries, because their sins were revealed. Nevertheless, among artists he enjoyed recognition. After the Second World War, his paintings once again aroused interest, but Otto's world love was only posthumous. Only then began to speak about it in wide circles, and the glory of its beginning began to grow rapidly.

Famous Paintings

The overwhelming majority of Otto Dix's paintings are scenes about the war or urban landscapes. One of the most famous works of the master is called "The Big City" (1827-1828). This triptych shows poor streets full of prostitutes and disabled veterans. The central painting is occupied by a picture of the rest of the upper world, who does not know and does not think about what is happening outside the walls of their glittering hall.

Polyptych "War" (1929-1932) is widely known. He depicts a soldier, a military field, as well as the consequences that remain after the battle. This is one of the brightest works of the new materiality, which meant a certain return to the old canons. Otto drew a polyptych not even on a canvas, but on a tree, as was done in the old days.

"Mother with Child" (1921) perfectly illustrates the power of the author's pen. Before the viewer, a picture is opened, on which the mother and child stand. It seems that she should please, but no. Their figures have grown thin, their faces have dried up, there is no life in their eyes, and smiles on their faces. Otto turned out to be a very gloomy portrait of wartime.

"7 deadly sins" depicts a biblical story, however, like all master paintings, redesigned for the needs of the time. So, in a small dwarf, who sits on a decrepit old woman, you can easily recognize Hitler. This picture shows well the artist's attitude towards the new power in the country.

The meaning of paintings by Otto Dix

All works filled with deep meaning artist Otto Dix. The paintings written by him convey a profound meaning, revealing social problems. So, for example, when he portrays a war, then we see horror on the faces and scrapes of bodies on the ground. The city's paintings show the crimes and debauchery of former soldiers who lost themselves. Streets are full of prostitutes, mother and child appear skinny from hunger, around gloom reigns supernatural. These were the cities after the lost war, but nobody wanted to pay attention to it, everyone tried to forget about what surrounds them. Otto also wanted to capture all these images. Perhaps they are not very realistic, but that's why they cause stronger emotions in viewers.

The fate of the paintings

The fate of the paintings of Otto Dix was sad after the Nazis came to power. So, in 1937, 260 paintings of an outstanding artist are devoted to fire as inappropriate to moral norms. However, even without taking into account the destroyed artist left behind a lot of works of art, because all his life he was engaged only in painting. The surviving paintings can now be seen in various museums throughout Germany. So, many are exhibited in the Dresden art gallery, in the national gallery in Berlin and elsewhere.

Sometimes there are new pictures, as happened in 2011, when 4 masterpieces were discovered at once. Some of the works are now in private collections, and they can be purchased at auctions.

Contribution to art

Otto Dix is an artist with a capital letter. His contribution to art and history is of great value, as he did not for nothing call himself a chronicler of his era. It is for the talent that Otto Dix is appreciated all over the world. No matter what genre he wrote and what he portrayed, it was all done by the hand of the master. Otto's paintings are capable of hitting spectators today.