Few artists are as known for their graphic images of war or their "caustic portraits of German post-war society"[i] as painter, Otto Dix. Born in 1891 in Untermhaus, Germany, Dix was interested in the arts from an early age. He followed in a similar path as many earlier Expressionists by moving to Dresden in 1910 where he studied at the School of Arts and Crafts. It was here, in the birthplace of Die Brucke (The Bridge), that Dix became heavily influenced by the Expressionistic gestural style as well as the philosophical of ideals of Nietzsche.[ii] Despite his growing interest in art, Dix volunteered as a machine gunner shortly after war was declared in 1915. He served in the entirety of WWI until its end in 1918, even though he was wounded several times on the field of battle. After being stationed in the trenches of the Western Front and witnessing the horrific brutality which took place there, Dix "emerged with a scathing view of mankind"[iii] at the end of his service. Following the war, Dix settled back in Dresden to continue his artistic studies. Although his work maintained Expressionistic aspects, he began to usher in a new movement along with George Grosz (1893-1959) called Neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity). Dix executed his unique form of social commentary as he "unsentimentally examined the decadence and underlying social inequality of post-war German Society."[iv] When compared to Kirchner as the prototype for Expressionism, Dix’s paintings lacked the impasto, strong juxtapositions or abstracted forms. Nonetheless, his works still captured the essence of Expressionism. Dix’s subjects--despite their heightened realism--are distorted to mere caricatures, his finely painted lines slice upon the canvas enhancing the angles of his figures and his environments capture the same menacing presence. Furthermore, the artistic nature of Dix’s war imagery is clearly influenced by Gothic master and Expressionist forefather, Matthias Grünewald (1470-1528). He may have been a founding father of Neue Sachlichkeit, but Dix was Expressionist to his core. Dix first received notoriety for his ability to turn a “clinical eye on the world and record its misery and pain with unreserved accuracy”[v] in his painting, War Cripples . By this time he Felt repelled by the sight of ex-soldiers exposing their deformations in the street. They became, for him, a symbol of the disillusionment engendered by the war, which he had initially greeted with such bull-necked aggression in 1914. Now all the Nietzschean hopes of renewal through destruction had vanished, and the enraged Dix devoted most of his energy in 1920 to an obsessive, savage and immensely disturbing sequence of war cripple paintings.[vi] War Cripples was the first in the provocative series by the same title. Exhibited in the First International Dada Fair in Berlin in 1920, the painting only escaped protest due to the other more controversial works being displayed alongside it.[vii] The image contains four male figures arranged in a frieze-like fashion along the canvas, each proudly donning their military uniforms and war wounds as they parade along the street. All are cripples, missing limbs from their time of service in the Great War. Bearing the scars of battle, their features are crude and distorted. Paint is applied upon the canvas with a precise line that emphasizes the angularity of the figures and their mechanical movements. Furthermore, it creates a space filled with figures and shapes that are inherently flat, recalling the film sets of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Figure 1). As for the painting’s color palette, little is known for it disappeared shortly after its appearance in the Degenerate Art Exhibition in 1937. In War Cripples, Dix created a powerful statement against the deluded self-image of the German people and its “pitifully maimed”[viii] soldiers. Dix painted the veterans of War Cripples as ruined[ix] grotesques, more machine than human; either by hobbling on their peg legs or pushed along in wheelchairs, the men proudly march the German streets unaware that they are not the glorious heroes they perceive. Yet, the soldiers happily march on, blinded by their pride. Furthermore, the figural composition recalls the friezes of ancient Greece, filled with the idealized forms of Classical gods and men (Figure 2). By creating this thematic contrast in War Cripples, Dix forces the German viewer to reconcile the difference between the heroes of old and the heroes of new. In doing so, he creates a scathing indictment of post-war society; no one was safe from Dix’s commentary in the painting. He attacked the military for butchering his generation, the public… for its fascination with these pathetic, reconstituted veterans and the cripples themselves for their undiminished national pride.[x] Just as Kirchner painted himself as a symbol of the sickness that overcame Germany following the war in his Self-Portrait as an Invalid (Figure 3), Dix uses the wounded soldiers in War Cripples as a metaphor for the dangers of the country’s national pride. Interwar German rhetoric held fast to the notion that Germany, despite its grievous losses and injuries, was still the glorious country it had been prior to WWI. Yet, the country struggled with its identity in the wake of its defeat. Dix was so critical of the German military, citizens and soldiers because all appeared to relish in the chance to redefine themselves as heroes and restore their pride. Another war provided for another opportunity to reconcile their conflicting identities. By portraying the soldiers of War Cripples as ruined, Dix is declaring that there is no glory in war, only death, destruction and decay; war would not afford them the outcome they so desired. Like the cripples within the painting, Germany and many of its citizens blindly marched on, forgetting the source of their disintegration. As Dix continued his War Cripples series, his work moved farther away from Expressionism and further into the harsh realism that characterized the Neue Sachlichkeit movement. Eventually Dix moved almost exclusively into war imagery as Germany moved closer to the tenth anniversary of the onset of The Great War. The country was at its most volatile point in 1924 following the riots between the communists and right-wing respondents at the inauguration of the national cenotaph commemorating those lost in the war.[xi] Controversy over Dix’s graphic war-scene, The Trench (Figure 4), also reached its nation-wide climax.[xii] Dix had painted an image of the real war within the trenches; the war that Germany lost, the war in which so many lives had been destroyed, not the war people sitting by their cozy stoves had dreamt of or idealized.[xiii] Both events “demonstrated that even a semblance of cohesion was unattainable”[xiv] as Germany was unable to grapple with its defeat or responsibility for The Great War. Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
i “German Expressionism: Otto Dix,” Museum of Modern Art, New York, online. ii Ibid. iii Ibid. iv “The Art of War,” National Gallery of Austria, online. v Padmore, “Expressionist Opera,” 46. vi Cork, A Bitter Truth, 251-2. vii Crockett, “Otto Dix and The Trench Affair,” 76. viii Cork, A Bitter Truth, 252. ix Fox, “Confronting Postwar Shame in Weimar Germany,” 249. x Crockett, “Otto Dix and The Trench Affair,” 72. xi Fox, “Confronting Postwar Shame in Weimar Germany,” 254. xii Crockett, “Otto Dix and the Trench Affair,” 77. xiii Ibid. xiv Fox, “Confronting Postwar Shame in Weimar Germany,” 254.
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**This is the second posting in a five-part series on the evolution of large-scale French Painting**
Following the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror, Jacques Louis David aligned himself with Europe's most powerful force: Napoleon Bonaparte. In 1804, Napoleon commissioned David to paint his Coronation at Notre-Dame in Paris, France. The result was the aptly named Coronation of Napoleon, one of the largest paintings in history that also delivers an astute political message. David attended the nearly five-hour ceremony at the cathedral and sketched most of the images during this time. Nonetheless, many sketches were later changed and figures who were noticeably absent, such as Napoleon's mother, were inserted within the crowd. Also within the Louvre, is one of these very telling preliminary sketches. The sketch depicts the Pope--who begrudgingly came from Rome to Paris to attend the event--sitting indifferently as an assertive Napoleon crowns himself with his back cast towards the Church leader. As David illustrated in the Oath of the Horatii, he fully understood the power of a political message within painting and how to clearly illustrate that desired message to the public. Ultimately, the implication delivered by the sketch would be deleterious to Napoleon—a man who was already gaining an infamous reputation worldwide. Despite the changes, Coronation still maintains Napoleon's assertion of power over the Pope. Symbolically, his back is still turned towards him and Napoleon stands above the Pope, looming as a larger and more powerful force within the painting. Both painter and emperor are declaring Napoleon’s ultimate power over the people of Europe. This declaration of supreme authority is continued in the crowing of Josephine. No longer is Napoleon crowing himself, as seen in the sketch, rather he is crowning his wife and empress. The switch in imagery serves to benefit Napoleon's image by appearing less prideful as he crowns his wife rather than himself, but still allows him to assert authority over the Pope for he is the one to crown Josephine, not the Supreme Pontiff. Although Coronation initially appears to be in sharp contrast to David's other Neo-Classical masterpieces, the painting still upholds his traditional aesthetic as seen previously in the Oath of the Horatii. David is a master of balance; in a painting that contains well over fifty different figures, his ability to maintain pictorial stability and order is of the utmost importance. The ceremony takes place in the Gothic cathedral of Notre Dame, yet David only paints the part of the church that best resembles the simplistic symmetry of Roman architecture. Once again, David utilizes this architecture in the background to frame his figural groupings, allowing for the eye to move gracefully about the canvas. In addition, these figures are grouped together by clothing, ensuring the scene does not become too chaotic for the viewer. Despite all the figures, David still draws the eyes to Napoleon with his contrasting bright white and deep red clothing and eventually to the kneeling Josephine. Although the painting does not depict a moment from the ancient past, Coronation is still historical. History is now within present day, but the subject is still the same. The grand past is no longer the adequate means of describing the present. This shift will continue in the works of later French artists as they begin to look towards the present rather than the past for their large-scale images. All figures, objects and textiles are rendered naturally and each face is a true portrait of its subject as David continues his emphasis on draftsmanship as well. Although the changes within David's work and Neo-classicism are subtle, his work in Coronation of Napoleon still embodies the ideals of the academic style during the Neo-classical era. Jacques Louis David, Oath of the Horatii, 1784, 10.8' L x13.9'H , Oil on Canvas, Paris. This is the beginning of a five-part series that will explore the evolution of large-scale French painting as seen in the premiere wing of the Musée de Louvre. We will start with the birth of Neo-Classicism to the transition of stylistic tendencies that eventually resulted in the counter movement of Romanticism. Beginning with the origins of the Academic style will also provide a solid foundation of understanding the deep-seeded underlying prejudices towards quantifying "good" art as discussed in the previous post.
Jacques Louis David's Oath of the Horatii is one of the most important paintings in the history of art. Not only did it mark the shift towards an artistic style that was better suited towards the ideals that later shaped the French Revolution and Napoleon's Empire, but Oath of the Horatii also set the precedent for what was expected of "high-art" in the salons of the 18th and 19th centuries. "High-art" is typically defined by its subject and its size: the larger the painting and the more historical the subject matter, the greater its value. By taking on this subject matter in such grand fashion, David knew he would solidify himself among the world's most elite artists. David knew how to align himself with powerful patrons and this influenced his later works and roles within the shifting French governments following the Revolution in 1789. Initially, David painted in the Rococo style to match the ornate court tastes of Louis XVI. His cousin, Francois Boucher, was a successful Rococo painter and ensured David a place within the Royal Academy. As tastes began to change, David shifted his style and entered the Prix de Rome, the ultimate painting competition that allowed the winner to travel to Rome and study the great masterpieces of the Classical era. After failing to win three times, David finally won the prize in 1774. He travelled to Rome where he also familiarized himself with the recently discovered Pompeii. It was during this time that he painted the Oath of the Horatii, the quintessential example of large-scale history painting and the Neo-classical aesthetic. When David entered the Oath of the Horatii into the Salon of 1785, it was met with resounding success; as a result, it became the single most important piece of the Neo-classical era and defined the art of the Salons as well as the academies for the next hundred or more years. David's precise draftsmanship and naturalistic rendering of the human form became the measure of an artist's talent and ability. He later emphasized this in his academy, the École des Beaux-Arts. Figures are beautifully modeled and shaded through the use of chiaroscuro and oil allows him to capture their minute details such as hair, texture or the veins coursing through their body. The Oath of the Horatii is almost photographic in its quality. Historically, Roman tastes lean towards realism. In addition, they have also favored balance and symmetry; David brings this balance to his painting. Everything in Oath of the Horatii is orderly. Three arches frame the three different groups of figures while the primary shape--the triangle--continues to emphasize this balance in groups of threes. Sharp diagonals are off-set by intersecting verticals while bright pops of red appear in each group to direct the eye and create visual stability. Aesthetically, David focuses on stability, balance and draftsmanship. While these create a highly naturalistic image, they also have the negative effect of making the painting and its figures appear static. Eventually, this will become a major argument against the academic style. Nonetheless, his Neo-classical style as exemplified in Oath of the Horatii, set the standards for future artists over the next hundred years. While David's style reflected the glories of Rome and the Neo-Classical aesthetic, so did his subject matter. Staying true to Rome and the ideals of "high-art," David chose to depict a historical subject: the war between Rome and Alba. The story describes the war between the two countries; as the casualties mount, both countries decide that rather than an all-out war, they will have one family of three represent each country. Fighting until the death, the last family standing will be declared the victor. For Alba, the family selected was the Curiatii; for Rome, it was the Horatii. Drama unfolds as inter-marriage affects both sides. The women are stricken with grief as one is betrothed to a Curiatii and one of the brothers is married to a Curiatii sister. Despite the tragedy that will unfold, the men stand upright pledging their oath to their father who holds them to their duty. Ultimately, the story is focused on the need for citizens to uphold their duty, honor and obedience to their country. In such a politically volatile time for France, David is reminding its citizens that their loyalties must lie with the state, not to family. The painting was originally commissioned by Louis the XVI as a reminder to the French people of where their allegiances should resign. In a sad twist of fate, the work became emblematic of the revolutionary ideals the king was trying to deter. The Oath of the Horatii is highly moralistic in preaching about one's patriotic duty, a theme that becomes pervasive not only in David's paintings, but other's throughout the Neo-Classical era. Therefore, it is not surprising that future leaders, revolutionary Jean-Paul Marat and Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte would employ David in order to instill these political undertones into their later commissions. |
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