Otto Dix (German, 1891-1969)
published by Verlag Karl Nierendorf/Galerie Nierendorf (German)
Dugout, from War
INV-1529
Otto Dix (German, 1891-1969)
published by Verlag Karl Nierendorf/Galerie Nierendorf (German)1924
Dugout, from War
Otto Dix (German, 1891-1969) published by Verlag Karl Nierendorf/Galerie Nierendorf (German) →etchingprint
Date
1924
Medium
Etching and aquatint on cream wove paper
Dimensions
Plate: 19.7 × 29 cm (7 13/16 × 11 7/16 in.); Sheet: 47.5 × 35.3 cm (18 3/4 × 13 15/16 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Margaret Fisher Endowment
World War I dragged on for four years, making the trenches of the front line a second home for the soldiers. In this depiction, the ragtag soldiers (including Otto Dix, shown in profile as the cut-off figure in the middle) seem to be enjoying a moment away from the gassing and bombs. Still, darker sides of this life are illustrated in the stacked bunks behind the card players, an image that confuses the act of sleeping underground with death and coffins. The artist would repeat this motif in the bottom panel of his monumental painting War Triptych (1929–32).
Also notable
Works in the same vein
Evening on the Wijtschaete Plain (November 1917), from War
Otto Dix (German, 1891-1969) published by Verlag Karl Nierendorf/Galerie Nierendorf (German, founded 1920)
Night-time Encounter with a Madman, from War
Otto Dix (German, 1891-1969) published by Verlag Karl Nierendorf/Galerie Nierendorf (German)
Wounded Soldier (Autumn 1916, Bapaume), from War
Otto Dix (German, 1891-1969) published by Verlag Karl Nierendorf/Galerie Nierendorf (German)
