Near Langemarck (February 1918), from War

The contrast between sophisticated artistic technique and the horrors of war runs throughout Otto Dix’s series. This image utilizes an incredibly detailed etching technique, drawing attention to traditional concepts of aesthetic skill, yet it also depicts the absolute wasteland of the trench warfare typical of World War I. Its beautiful surface contrasts with its grotesque subject. Such visual contradictions between form and content would be further elaborated in Dix’s major war paintings, made during the Weimar Republic, such as Trench (1920–23).