Images: Portraiture
Self-Portrait with Muse
Otto Dix 1924 In his painterly robes, a rooted and calculating Dix stares with furrowed brow into the face of his muse. Though his torso appears to be stiff, his left hand, equipped with a brush and a mind of its own, suggests the gestural action of painting. Much unlike his thick and covering robes, the muse freely displays her voluptuous body with nothing more than a sheer blue cloth loosely draped around her. Her hand and hair seem to float up in imaginary waves of fantasy. This juxtaposition seems at once vulgar and luminous. It is as if Dix steps into his serious painter mode, but seeks a separate reality with the muse. |
Portrait of the Journalist Sylvia von Harden
Otto Dix, 1926 The shocking, saturated crimson values throughout the portrait complement the strong personality Dix chose to portray. Employing this angled, atypical view of the subject, Dix further gives details about the nonconforming journalist who was a part of the Weimar literary scene. The extortion of the hands, cropped hair, and barely crossed legs also lend a quality of sexual ambiguity. As is characteristic of Dix and many other New Objectivity artists, he calls forth a particular type – the emancipated woman. Harden’s laidback and yet confident posture suggests the woman who has found herself, her identity, and is comfortable in her own skin. |
Self-Portrait with a Model
Christian Schad 1927 Schad’s listless gaze uncomfortably confronts the viewer, but yet it seems preoccupied, uncertain. The presence of the nude woman behind him, who was a composite of figures, places the artist in a scene presumably moments after a sexual transaction took place. However, there seems to be absolutely no attachment remaining. The single white narcissus is in striking contrast to the dark receding background and provides further symbolic meaning as it rises between the two heads. Covered by a green, sheer, skin tight fabric and withholding both hands, there seems to be a psychological defense provided against the lover and the viewer. |
Portrait of Dr. Haustein
Christian Schad 1928 Similar to his own self-portrait, the subject here stares directly at the viewer. This formal, classicized view from the mid-torso up is much different from Dix’s unusual angles. However, the sitter’s gaze is uncomfortably distant. His features are smoothly and carefully rendered with oil paint, which draws attention to the few various hairs that are out of place. Furthermore, the creepy shadow casted behind him suggests something much more sinister. As he later explained, the shadow is actually that of his mistress, Sonja, smoking a cigarette(1) . Aside from the title, the urethral probe hanging from his left pocket is the only thing identifying him as a doctor. (1)Coto-Segura, Pablo, “Christian Schad and Dr Haustein: An Example of Art and Dermatology Under the Nazi Regime,” Archives of Dermatology 144 (February 2008): 214. |
Self-Portrait with a Model
George Grosz 1928 Though utilizing an unconventional side profile, unlike the two previous artist’s self-portraits, Grosz does not focus on fine details, but rather attends to heavy use of color and contrasts with light. Though an oil painting, it appears to have a chalky finish. These techniques serve to confuse the situation. The model is at once his subject to be painted and the canvas on which he paints. Grosz posture is tense and menacing as indicated by his raised shoulder, creased forehead, and focusing squint. Viewed from afar, his palette creates the illusion of a gory mutilation of the woman’s back. |
The Poet Max Hermann-Neisse
George Grosz 1927 Much like his self-portrait, the surrounding objects are distorted, and the viewer is presented with unconventional side view of the sitter. However unlike the previous portrait, his unusual features are carefully and finely executed down to the blue and red veins under the sallow skin of his hands and face. His hunched over posture and critical gaze suggest the poet is lost in thought. The bright colors enveloping the sitter seem to juxtapose his pensive mood. With the company of an empty wine bottle and cigarette bud, items oft-associated with the literary and politically active circle in Berlin, perhaps he is not only pensive but sedated. |