Few painters are as strongly linked to the historical events and political catastrophes of twentieth-century Germany as Otto Dix (1891–1969). Born to a working-class family at the turn of the twentieth century, he hurled himself into the art world of the prewar era, and fought and drew on the front during World War I; after 1918, he gave that war perhaps the most honest face bestowed on it by an artist. During the Weimar Republic, Dix emerged as an enfant terrible, a dandy and an urban sophisticate, but he was also a respected professor and pedagogue, until he was driven from his position by the Nazis a few months after they came to power. Ostracized and threatened under the Nazi regime, Dix retreated to Lake Constance, where he began painting in the broader brushstokes that characterize his final phase. Published in Hatje Cantz's new Art to Read series, Philipp Gutbrod's expertly written biography examines an eventful life and a multifaceted oeuvre.
"I am a realist. I must see everything. I must experience all of life's abysses for myself." Otto Dix spoke these words toward the end of his life, six years before his death in 1969. This credo is testimony to the artist's uncompromising commitment to even the harshest realism and stood as a guiding principle throughout his life. Dix's artistic development was intrinsically tied to the historical events and political debacles surrounding the two World Wars in Germany. As a soldier in the killing fields of World War I, Dix witnessed the brutality of industrialized warfare, the killing, the rape and the destruction. Registering all he witnessed and experienced in arresting artworks alone had meaning to him: to depict reality just as it is perceived, no matter how terrible or hideous. To reach this goal, he employed his exceptional proficiency in diverse artistic techniques and painting styles to express what existed in the world in the most compelling way possible. Dix's lifelong and unrelenting quest for uncompromising realism remains impressive and relevant to this day. His art has been shown in numerous exhibitions around the globe and continually earns ever greater recognition. Still, the themes of Dix's paintings, their portrayal and the artist's biography have also caused controversy. Dix viewed his artistic production outside of any social or religious moral framework; one could say he was politically incorrect avant la letter. His radical stance resulted in several trials during his lifetime, and to repeated posthumous accusations of glorifying violence and misogyny. Yet because Dix refrained from formulating a theoretical explanation of his art, it is rather difficult to ascertain the motivation or intention behind his more explicit works. It is therefore essential to view the "original" paintings, works on paper and prints and follow his often expressed principle, the closest he came to formulating an artist's statement: "Trust your eyes."
FORMAT: Hbk, 6.75 x 9.75 in. / 128 pgs / 27 color / 6 b&w. LIST PRICE: U.S. $40.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $50 ISBN: 9783775725811 PUBLISHER: Hatje Cantz AVAILABLE: 5/31/2010 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Out of print AVAILABILITY: Not available TERRITORY: NA LA
Few painters are as strongly linked to the historical events and political catastrophes of twentieth-century Germany as Otto Dix (1891–1969). Born to a working-class family at the turn of the twentieth century, he hurled himself into the art world of the prewar era, and fought and drew on the front during World War I; after 1918, he gave that war perhaps the most honest face bestowed on it by an artist. During the Weimar Republic, Dix emerged as an enfant terrible, a dandy and an urban sophisticate, but he was also a respected professor and pedagogue, until he was driven from his position by the Nazis a few months after they came to power. Ostracized and threatened under the Nazi regime, Dix retreated to Lake Constance, where he began painting in the broader brushstokes that characterize his final phase. Published in Hatje Cantz's new Art to Read series, Philipp Gutbrod's expertly written biography examines an eventful life and a multifaceted oeuvre.
