Reflection Of Otto Dix's Self Portrait Of A Soldier

At the commencement of the coming war, the general view of the civilian population and the soldiers was excitement and joy. To the general public, war had “become legendary, and distance had made it seem romantic and heroic” (Zweig) The romanticized tone of the war inspired a festive attitude that permeated through each nation and soon the “...average men and women were delighted at the prospect of war” (Russell). Otto Dix, an esteemed German painter, painted a portrait of himself before he went into the war labeled, “Self Portrait of a Soldier”. Through the vibrant colors that Dix utilizes, he conveys the message that war is a “celebration of strength and violence”. This contributes to the overall tone of soldiers, who believed that they would gain glory and pride by fighting this war. “...young recruits were marching triumphantly, their faces lighting up at the cheering” (Zweig) demonstrates how the initial reaction of civilians toward soldiers reconfirmed the fact that pride would be gained through war, making the position of soldier a desirable one
Faced against a common enemy, the
Trench warfare on such a large scale was an unprecedented event, and Paul, a character in “All Quiet on the Western Front”, states that, “Modern trenchwarfare demands knowledge and experience” (Remarque) portraying the effect of trench warfare on soldiers. Within trenches, a host of possible diseases, such as trench foot, were possible, due to the proximity of the soldiers. In addition, this war had the highest number of fatalities of any war upto this point in time, and this caused severe psychological scarring to the men in the war. Otto Dix’s painting “Self Portrait of a Gunner” portrays Dix with much darker colors, and a less visible face. This obvious change in color and mood of the paintings of Dix’s pre war and post war paintings demonstrates how the war had changed him for the