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TO EXPRESSIONISTS
The
Seven Deadly Sins
Otto
Dix
Oil/Egg Tempera on Wood
This
allegorical painting representing the political situation
in Germany at the time, was created immediately after the
Nazis had Dix removed from his teaching position at the
Dresden Art Academy.
The
figures are Avarice (an old, bent over hag clutching at
money), Envy (who rides the back of Avarice), Sloth (the
figure in the skeleton costume who holds the scythe, and
whose legs and arms form a rough swastika), Lust (who dances
in a lascivious way behind Death, Anger (the horned demon
behind death), Pride (the enormous head behind the scythe,
whose ears are plugged and who has an anus for a mouth),
and Gluttony (represented by the figure in the uppermost
right corner who wears a cooking pot on his head).
The
figure of Envy, who rides the back of Avarice, wears a mask
of Adolf Hitler. As a matter of precaution, Dix did not
paint in the Hitler mustache until after the war.
The
figure of Sloth is prominently featured because the artist
blamed the German people's lack of alarm and concern as
a primary reason for the Nazis rise to power.
This
oil and tempera painting done on wood shows Dix to have
been one of Germany's greatest painters.
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