Match Seller by Otto Dix

Etching, 1920.

Match Seller

Art work details

Year of production :
1920
Artist:
Otto Dix
Medium :
Etching, Artist proof
Materials:
Ink, Paper
Credit Line :
Purchased with assistance from the City of Leicester Museums Trust, ACE/V&A Purchase Grant Fund and The Art Fund
Copyright :
© DACS 2014.
Associated Groups :
Novembergruppe, Dresdner Sezession
Tags:
Weimar Republic, Portrait, Dix, Etching

Artist proof.

Before he printed the main edition of a print, Dix would usually create 2 or 3 ‘proofs’, to check the detail and appearance of the print was to his liking.

Dix had returned from the war for less than 2 years when he made this etching, one of a series called 5 Radierungen (5 Etchings), which show groups of disabled ex-soldiers, often with devastating injuries or psychological damage.

Dix forces us to confront the blind match-seller’s bleak existence on the streets; his arms and legs lost in the war and his presence ignored by passers-by. A dachshund urinates gleefully on the stumps of the unfortunate man’s legs, underlining his woeful state.

Art FundV & A Purchase Grant FundThe City of Leicester Museums Trust

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