The Online Otto Dix Project

Description: The Somme was a horrific affair. The British opened with an artillery salvo that lasted for days. This fleeing soldier is depicted with what appear as relatively minor physical injuries. The nightmare of the assault will probably haunt him much longer...

Description: This scene is reminiscent of the imagery in plate number 9. In place of foreboding images of death we see rays of hope. A smattering of leaves appear on the tree in the foreground.

Description: The scene is other worldly as gas clouds the atmosphere. Their features are obscured by masks and their fingers are curled like claws. These are men who will kill by any means. But are they men?

Description: A trench soldier quickly gulps a meal in the company of a human skeleton trapped in the frozen landscape beside him.

Description: The company takes a brief break enroute to a forward position. The distant sound of guns reminds some of the horrors they are not yet ready to bear.

Description: Here Dix exploits the rich textures and delicate lines of human destruction and debris to create a captivating image.

Description: Here we see a fine use of aquatint to capture the rich textures of a horrible scene. With this technique, the plate is coated with resin and given an acid bath. The acid erodes areas not coated with material and leaves behind a porous finish.

Description: Flares were launched in order to illuminated enemy troops. For Dix they revealed horrific images of human destruction.

Description: Throughout this series, Dix presents a wide array of ways in which a soldier can meet his death. We've seen men ripped by bullets as they were tangled in barbed wire or buried alive as a trench collapsed. In this plate, a soldier remains posed in the exact position he held at the moment the sniper's bullet found its target.

Description: The idea was to cut through the enemy defenses with artillery in advance of the assault. The best laid plans of mice and men...