The Easel

4th July 2017

Otto Dix at Tate Liverpool: a portrait of a crumbling Germany

Returning from the trenches of WW1, Dix felt the sacrifice of soldiers was little appreciated. Then the Roaring Twenties arrived. His unforgiving portraits depicted Weimar society living on borrowed time. Disliking his candour the Nazis labeled him a degenerate.  Dix declared “I need the connection to the sensual world, and the courage to expose ugliness and life undiluted.” He had that courage. More images are here.

Gathering Dust

When practicing his photography Man Ray took a shot of a dusty surface that is now renowned for its ambiguity. It prompted the curator of a London show to wonder if twentieth century history can be described “from the perspective of dust”? Dust is “a harbinger of disturbance. This is dust as history, settling in the aftermath of events.” A short essay by the curator and more images are here.