Otto Dix
The Disdainers of Death
1922
Scroll
Otto Dix
The Disdainers of Death
1922
Physical Qualities
Etching and drypoint with printed tone, Sheet: 497 x 428 mm. (19 9/16 x 16 7/8 in.)
Plate: 346 x 277 mm. (13 5/8 x 10 7/8 in.)
Portfolio/Series
From the portfolio "Circus (Zirkus)"
Credit Line
Print Fund
Object Number
1950.116
A veteran of World War I, Otto Dix emerged traumatized by his experience of trench warfare. The term “unflinching” has sometimes been used to describe the cold eye that Dix cast on humanity, but in the three works from Dix’s rare print portfolio Zirkus, we can also see his darkly humorous side. From the smug and brutal self-confidence of The Disdainers of Death, to the freakish Balance Act, and the macabre showmanship of a magician conjuring up a spider woman in Illusion Act, Dix uses the circus to underscore the seedy elements of postwar Weimar society.
Jay Fisher, BMA, "German Expressionist Graphics 1905-1985," 9 August - 9 October, 1988.
Susan Dackerman, BMA, "A Modern Renaissance: German Expressionist Prints and Drawings," 10 July - 29 September, 1996.
Oliver Shell, BMA, "A Circus Family: Picasso to Léger," 22 February through 17 May 2009.
Susan Dackerman, BMA, "A Modern Renaissance: German Expressionist Prints and Drawings," 10 July - 29 September, 1996.
Oliver Shell, BMA, "A Circus Family: Picasso to Léger," 22 February through 17 May 2009.
Signed: 1
Inscribed: lower left in graphite: "22/50"; lower center in graphite: "Verächter des Todes"; lower right in graphite: "Dix 22"
Markings: None
