Otto Dix: War (Response to the Portrait)

Otto Dix: War (Staatliche Kunstammlungen Dresden, copyright 2004 Artists Rights Society {ARS}, New York/VG Bild-Kunst, Bunn)



I find this picture to be very disturbing. Its very haunting and very graphic. Their are dead bodies all around and everything is deserted and destroyed. In the left hand corner of the portrait, their is a soldier who seems to be looking for something, but its quite odd because their is nothing to search for since everything around him is dead and destroyed. Otto Dix was probably haunted by all the horrors of the war that he had witnessed. I feel that this painting signifies the horrid memories of the soldiers life during the war. They endured endless days in mud, filth, trenches, and dugouts. They lived with rodents, lice, and the constant fear of dying, or barely making it out of the war safe. Furthermore, this picture also represents those who did make it through still suffered from mental issues, and horrible visions that they would never forget!