XX century gave a huge impetus to the development of art.This is the time of the emergence of many new trends and ideas. Only in the last century, finally, art appeared before us without restrictions and embellishment, could show off all the vices and problems of our life. Famous German artists 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, but undeservedly forgotten. His life was no less fascinating than art, so now they write more about him.
Otto was born in 1891 in Germany, where he livedall of my life. He was from the family of a worker, but was able to go to the Academy of Arts, in which he was first penetrated with expressionism. Avant-garde painting made a strong impression on the young artist, and he devoted his life to her.
When World War I started, then dicksexperienced a lot. Volunteer went to war Otto Dix. The artist was able to learn from her truly valuable experience. During those years he created about 600 drawings that showed all the horrors of war. For this, they criticized the young talented person, because they must portray heroes in a war, not people.
In the personal life of the artist was constant: he married very early and raised five children. The family has always supported the artist, even during periods when the authorities did not accept him.
Successes and failures in work
In 1919 he becomes the founderDresden Secession. In 1823, he earned the accusation of Otto Dix pornography. The artist, fortunately, got off easily, 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 Academy of Art 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 DresdenAcademy, 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 at that time he was already 53. However, he did not want to fight anymore and soon surrendered to the French.
После войны Отто снова стал выставлять картины, but they did not fit in any direction of the time, although they received high marks. The artist lived until 1969 and even in recent years has not abandoned his craft.
Creative periods
Perhaps, sometimes it is difficult to determine whichThis direction is one or another work of Dix. We can say one thing: expressionism and avant-garde were almost always present in his work. Sometimes they were mixed with elements of realism (“Self-portrait with muse”) or cubism (“Seller of matches”).
The direction of the new materiality, which in 20-30yy Twentieth century. fascinated expressionist artists, captured and Otto Dix. Colleagues and art lovers have always supported him. Expressionist artists of the time, though they wrote in the same genre, but did not do it with such an expression, therefore Otto stood out among them.
After being removed from work, the artist began to write on a religious topic. It was during this period that Dix created one of his outstanding paintings - "7 deadly sins."
After World War II, Otto Dix was alreadyabandoned abstract art and social themes, continuing, however, to adhere to expressionism, as in his early works. Basically now his canvases depicted landscapes and religious subjects. As the artist said, he was interested not so much in how he portrays the picture, but in what is painted on it and what meaning it carries. His expressionist paintings can actually be called very emotional, and they are breathtaking even among non-professionals.
Coming of glory
In his lifetime, Otto Dix could not win widefame connoisseurs. On the contrary, the public didn’t like him, because on his canvases he depicted life exactly as it is. As the artist himself said, he sought to create a portrait of the era without any embellishment and bias, for which his contemporaries apparently disliked him, because their sins turned out to be revealed. Nevertheless, among the artists he enjoyed recognition. After World War II, his paintings again aroused interest, but Otto received world love only posthumously. Only then did they begin to talk about him in wide circles, and his fame began to grow rapidly.
Famous paintings
Подавляющая масса картин Отто Дикса - это сюжеты about war or cityscapes. One of the most famous works of the master is called "Big City" (1827-1828). This triptych shows poor streets full of prostitutes and disabled veterans. The central canvas is occupied by the painting of high society rest, which does not know and does not think about what is going on behind the walls of their glittering halls.
The polyptych "War" (1929-1932) is widely known.He depicts a soldier, a battlefield, and the consequences that remain after the battle. This is one of the brightest works of new materiality, which meant some return to the old canons. Otto drew polyptychs not even on the canvas, but on a tree, as was done in the old days.
"Мать с ребенком" (1921) как нельзя лучше shows all the power of the author's pen. Before the viewer opens a picture on which mother and child stand. It seems she should be happy, but no. Their figures were exhausted, their faces dried up, there was no life in their eyes, and smiles on their faces. Otto had a very gloomy portrait of wartime.
"7 deadly sins" depicts the biblical story,however, like all the paintings of the master, reworked for the needs of the time. So, in a little dwarf who sits on a decrepit old woman, you can easily recognize Hitler. This picture well shows the whole attitude of the artist to the new power in the country.
The meaning of the paintings by Otto Dix
Все работы наполнял глубоким смыслом художник Otto dicks. Pictures, written by him, convey a deep meaning, revealing social problems. So, for example, when he portrays a war, we see horror on faces and scraps of bodies on the ground. The urban paintings show the crimes and debauchery of former soldiers who have lost themselves. The streets are full of prostitutes, mother and child appear emaciated from hunger, hopelessness reigns all around. These were exactly these cities after the lost war, but no one wanted to pay attention to it, everyone tried to forget about their surroundings. Otto also sought to capture all these images. Perhaps they are not very realistic, but it is precisely for this reason that they cause stronger emotions in the audience.
The fate of the paintings
Судьба картин Отто Дикса была печальна после the coming of the Nazis to power. So, in 1937, 260 paintings by an outstanding artist were set on fire as inappropriate to moral norms. However, even without taking into account the destroyed, the 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. Many are exhibited in the Dresden Art Gallery, the National Gallery in Berlin and other places.
Sometimes there are new paintings, as happened in 2011, when 4 masterpieces were discovered at once. Some works are now in private collections, and they can be purchased at auctions.
Contribution to art
Otto Dix - an artist with a capital letter.His contribution to art and history is of great value, because it is no wonder that he called himself a chronicler of his era. It is for talent that Otto Dix is now valued all over the world. Regardless of what genre he wrote and what he portrayed, it was all done by the hand of a master. Pictures Otto able to amaze the audience today.
