Self-Portrait

1912

Otto Dix German, 1891-1969

On View

Modern, Level 2, North Wing

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Markings

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Provenance

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Exhibition History

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Published References

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About the Artwork

Otto Dix painted this exacting self-portrait in 1912, heralding a new approach to painting that he and other artists would fully develop in Germany in the wake of World War I. Characterized by a heightened realism and a devotion to portraiture, the movement reflected a disillusionment with prewar expressionist idealism and came to be known as Neue Sachlichkeit (The New Objectivity). The twenty-one-year-old artist portrays himself sporting a dark-brown corduroy jacket and a closely cropped hairstyle evocative of the medieval era, standing against a deserted, uniformly blue background. Dix depicts in minute detail the texture of his clothes and his concentrated — even ferocious — facial expression. However, the effect is not that of illusionistically portrayed reality. Rather, the sitter’s exaggerated appearance distills his fierce determination and projects his ambition. Like other younger German artists of the period, Dix looked to Northern Renaissance painters like Lucas Cranach the Elder, Hans Baldung Grien, and Albrecht Dürer for inspiration. He appropriated a motif of carnation employed by these artists to symbolize love, faithfulness, and devotion. He also approximated their technique by applying his paint in multiple layers, which concealed the brushwork and produced a smooth and luminous surface.

Title Self-Portrait

Artwork Date 1912

Artist Otto Dix

Life Dates 1891-1969

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. German

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. Unknown

Medium Oil on paper mounted on poplar panel

Dimensions Unframed: 29 × 19 1/2 inches (73.7 × 49.5 cm) Framed: 34 5/8 × 25 1/2 × 3 1/2 inches (87.9 × 64.8 × 8.9 cm)

Classification Paintings

Department European Modern Art to 1970

Credit Gift of Robert H. Tannahill

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 51.65

Markings

Signed Signed and dated, upper left: DIX | 1912

Provenance

until April 29, 1925, Graphisches Kabinett Hugo Erfurth (Dresden, Germany)

April 29, 1925-1937, purchased by Kunstmuseum Düsseldorf (Düsseldorf, Germany)

1937, confiscated by the German Reich (Deutsches Reich)/The Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda (Reichsministerium für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda), Berlin, Germany as “degenerate art”

March 1937, consigned to (Galerie Ferdinand Möller, Berlin, Germany)

January 1938-1951, purchased by Robert H. Tannahill [1893-1969] (Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, USA)

1951-present, gift to the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.

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Published References

Twentieth Century Portraits. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1943, p. 70 (ill.).

Haass, Lillian Henkel and William A. Bostick. "Annual Report of the Founders Society." Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts 31, no. 2 (1951–1952): pp. 44, 49.

Löffler, Fritz. Otto Dix: Leben und Werk. Dresden, 1960, p. 303, pl. 1 (ill.).

Selected Works from the Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1979, p. 227, no. 178 (ill.).

Löffler, Fritz. Otto Dix 1891–1969: Oeuvre der Gemälde. Recklinghausen, 1981, pp. 10, 78, 300, no. 1912/3 (ill.).

Uhr, Horst. Masterpieces of German Expressionism at the Detroit Institute of Arts. New York, 1982, p. 62 (ill.).

100 Masterworks from the Detroit Institute of Arts. New York, 1985, pp. 214-215 (ill.).

Robinson, William H. "Otto Dix's 'Portrait of Josef May.'" Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 74, no. 8 (October 1987): 306–331, pp. 306–307 (ill.).

Wilkinson, MaryAnn. "'A Great Simplicity of Form': Two Works by Paula Modersohn-Becker." Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts 80, no. 1/2 (2006): 28–35, p. 33 (ill.).

Beal, Graham W.J. and Debra N. Mancoff. Treasures of the DIA. Detroit, 2007, p. 381, no. 305 (ill.).

Keyes, George. "Portraiture—Mirror or Mask?" Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts 83, no. 1/4 (2009): 4–11, pp. 10–11 (ill.).

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