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| Exhibited at Staatliche Kuntsammlugen, Gemaldegalerie Neue Meister, Dresden, 1929 credit here |
Opinion: Der Krieg reminded me of several different movies. It seemed to be a cross between I am Legend and War of the Worlds. It has a certain futuristic vibe, which I found interesting. However, this is not especially surprising, considering it shows the annihilation of mankind, which is a premiss upon which many sci-fi movies are based. I felt guilty after coming to this conclusion because this painting was created to depict a horrible war and immediately I jumped away from reality and into the world of film. I think it says something about our society that its difficult for us to recognize reality and violence because we are exposed to so much on the media.
Theory: Der Krieg is an Expressionist piece created in the wake of World War I.It depicts the horror of war on both man and the surrounding nature. In the first panel, soldiers march off to war, while in the center and right panel, the viewers sees the terribly awesome aftermath. There are mangled bodies and debris everywhere. To make his piece more personally powerful, Dix actually painted himself in on the right hand panel as a ghostly figure who helps a fallen comrade to safety. The piece is nihilistic- it is the complete destruction of life and communicates Dix’s view of the war. It is also reminiscent of the Isenheim Altarpiece, except there is no resurrection of Christ and therefore no hope. Dix wanted to show the reality before him (Gardner, Page 1035).
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