self-portraits

Otto Dix, artist

1891–1969

self-portraits, 1914

Where object was made: Germany

Material/technique: oil; composition board

Dimensions:
Canvas/Support (Height x Width x Depth): 70.5 x 54.6 cm
Canvas/Support (Height x Width x Depth): 27 3/4 x 21 1/2 in
Frame Dimensions (Height x Width x Depth): 36 5/8 x 31 5/8 x 2 1/8 in

Credit line: Museum purchase

Accession number: 1961.0004

On display: Michaelis Gallery

Add to portfolio

If you wish to reproduce this image, please submit an image request

Images

Label texts

Empowerment

Created amidst the rumblings of the First World War (1914–1918), this painting presents a forceful exploration of self-identity. The artist’s brightly painted signature “DIX” provides a central point around which he presents himself in multiple guises. Are these expressions of military strength, the destructive forces of war, the creative power of art, or Dix’s own dreams and visions?

Empowerment

Debut

Otto Dix volunteered in Dresden, Germany, for military service at the outbreak of World War I in 1914. By the fall of 1915, he was a machine gunner and platoon commander in France, Flanders, Poland, and Russia and witnessed some of the most harrowing chapters of WWI. This untitled self-portrait is best understood as an exploration of the self in various guises that seems to culminate in two helmeted figures near the central signature in red.

Debut