(1891-1969)

Dix based his works of art on representing life's honesty, especially on the feelings and emotions of war as his works were created in Germany were during the 1920s. His portraits were also honest and within the movement of Neue Sachlichkeit ("New Objectivity")

DIX'S THOUGHTS ON ART

"You know, if one paints someone's portrait, one should not know him if possible. No knowledge! I do not want to know him at all, want only to see what is there, the outside. The inner follows by itself. It is mirrored in the visible. As soon as one knows him too long, one gets irritated. The visual immediacy is lost. The first impression is the right one. Once I have finished his picture, I can perhaps revise my impression and say, he really isn't such a beast as it seemed. Or he is not as decadent or as greedy as Flechtheim was at that time, or not so naive as the Trillhaases. . . . It's all the same to me. I must keep the first impression fresh. If it is lost, I must find it again"
[c. 1965]

INTRODUCTION    WHAT ART IS   SPIRIT OF ART   REFLECTIONS BY ARTISTS    MY WORKS OF ART