Dying Soldier (Sterbender Soldat) from The War (Der Krieg)
Otto Dix
German, 1891–1969
1924
A small, intense etching, aquatint, and drypoint by Otto Dix that shows a mutilated, dying soldier—an unflinching attempt to document the physical and moral devastation of World War I.
The image hits you with a cramped, almost claustrophobic immediacy: face and hands emerge from a mass of dense cross-hatching, inky blots and gouged lines that make the flesh look torn and indistinct.
As part of Dix’s War portfolio, this print helped establish a confrontational, socially engaged realism in the interwar period by rejecting heroic narratives and forcing viewers to confront the trauma of modern warfare.
Medium
Etching, aquatint, and drypoint from a portfolio of fifty etching, aquatint, and drypoints
Dimensions
plate: 7 5/8 x 5 5/8" (19.3 x 14.3 cm); sheet: 18 9/16 x 13 9/16" (47.2 x 34.5 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller
Accession
159.1934.26
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
![Dead Man (St. Clément) [Toter (St. Clément)] from The War (Der Krieg)](https://www.moma.org/media/W1siZiIsIjE2Nzc3NSJdLFsicCIsImNvbnZlcnQiLCItcmVzaXplIDEwMjR4MTAyNFx1MDAzZSJdXQ.jpg?sha=edad5d957a61b6c9)
![Wounded Man (Autumn 1916, Bapaume) (Verwundeter [Herbst 1916, Bapaume]) from The War (Der Krieg)](https://www.moma.org/media/W1siZiIsIjExNjQ1OSJdLFsicCIsImNvbnZlcnQiLCItcmVzaXplIDEwMjR4MTAyNFx1MDAzZSJdXQ.jpg?sha=231eee549b02b8bc)
