Otto Dix; Christian Schad.

Paris and New York

Author(s): Sean Rainbird
Source: The Burlington Magazine, Vol. 145, No. 1202 (May, 2003), pp. 387-389
Published by: Burlington Magazine Publications Ltd.
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3100717
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um of the commonplace.It is asthoughthe
blatantirrationalityof the surrealistpropo-
sition (whether realisedin painting or in
writing)triggersa sort of mentalshort-cir-
cuit or seizure,somethingwhich ordinary
folk arelikely to find unsettlingbut of little
lastingimport,yet which those attunedto
the surrealist projectwill want to cherish,as
a preludeto their deeperengagementwith
the flux of shiftingmeanings.
La clairvoyance (1936) is a programmatic
work, a portraitof the artistas committed
Surrealist,one who, with an airofimpecca-
ble pedantry,brushesonto his canvasthe
image of a bird with open wings, while
squintingsidewaysat his model, nothing
more than an egg perched intact upon a
table-top.Here, an initialsenseof inappro-
priatenessgives way to a secondarysense
of coherence, the prospect of a design
underlyingMagritte'snonsense.Elsewhere,
serious symbolismseems on the cards,as
when one confrontsthe figurein the grand-
ly tided Lefils de l'homme(1964). Unfortu-
nately we cannot catch the eye of this
bowler-hattedgent who standsso obedi-
ently to attention,for thereis a largegreen
apple immobilisedbefore his face. How-
ever, we may wish to ponderthe unobtru-
sive clue providedby the bottom button
missingon his ultra-correctraincoat.
One of the most impressivemomentsin
the show is the wall bearingno less than
three versions of a favouritemotif. Each
entitled L'empiredes lumieres,these large
canvasesexploitthe nonsequitur of a noctur-
nal scene in which a dim street-lampis
engulfedby houses and trees saturatedin
blackest shadow, while the sky above is
painteda brightblue, the colour of broad
daylight.The best of the three,I feel, is the
metre-and-a-halfwide version of I96I,
from a private collection. It is a decisive
crystallisationof one of Magritte'smost
sublime effects, at once utterly simple
and consistentlyenthralling,and a perfect
instanceof whatJeanRoudaut,in his essay
'Une grandeillusion', sees as the essential
function of this art: 'It shows something
both impossibleand compatiblewith our
authenticworld' (catalogue,p.37).
Ancillaryto the main show are a few
large bronzes, such as the black-painted
take-off of David's MadameRecamier(the
motionlesssittertranslatedinto a coffin).A
mezzaninealcoveis devotedto collagesand
a few of those painted bottles in which
Magritteindulges in a twee and homely
Surrealism.A basement space contains a
disappointingset of tiny snapshotsfrom
the inter-waryears,in which Magritte,his
wife Georgetteand his surrealistpalsmime
the novel poses of the paintings.A richer
photographicsupplementis provided by
the catalogue.
Perhapsthe bestjustificationof surrealist
art is that it dislocateshabitualperception
andrefreshesour gaze. One of the pleasur-
able incidentalsof a visit to the Jeu de
Paume is its outlook upon a famous
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cityscape:a white balcony on the margin
of the upperfloor offersthe prospectof a
skylineextendingfrom the PalaisBourbon
to the EiffelTower. Restingin mid-circuit
on my visit, I watched a distantindustrial
chimneythrow out flourishesof smoke, as
if fabricatingclouds. Next to it, a bright
blue hot-air balloon hung immobile just
abovethe rooftops.Below me, a manin the
Tuileries gardenshad scatteredgrain to a
host of white pigeons and was suddenly
submergedbeneath a cascadeof flapping
feathers.In turningbackto the paintings,I
felt impelled to seek theirjustificationin
terms of such a revelation.One of Ma-
lessonsis thatwe canall
gritte'ssurreptitious
aspireto identifythose momentswhen the
humdrumworldwe inhabitletsus in on the
secretof its pulsatingdottiness.
Editedby FrangoiseBonnefoy
Catalogue:Magritte.
with essaysby Daniel Abadie,JeanRoudaut, Patrick
Roegiers, Jean-Michel Goutier, Renilde Ham-
macher and Bernard Noel; chronology by Sarah
304 pp. incl. 188 col. pls. + 74 b. & w. ills.
Whi-field.
(Galerienationale du Jeu de Paume/Ludion, Paris,
2003), e35 (PB). ISBN 2-908902-92-7
Paume); e45 (HB), ISBN 90-5544-433-2
Otto Dix; Christian Schad
ParisandNew York
by SEAN RAINBIRD, Tate,London
THE DRAMATICALLY
INSTALLED
retrospective
devotedto MaxBeckmannwasfollowedat
the Centre Pompidou, Paris, by a selec-
tion of works on paperby Otto Dix from
the period 1915-35 (closed 3Ist March).'
Extendingthis Germanseasonin Paris,the
Musee Maillol mounteda selectivesurvey
of the work of ChristianSchad (closed
3Ist March)which is currentlyat the Neue
Galerie, New York (to 9thJune).2
The domesticscaleof the Mus&eMaillol
(where this reviewer saw the show) was
an appropriate venue for displayingSchad's
compact body of work. Split over two
floorsanddividedbetweenone largegallery
andseveralsmallerrooms,the verydifferent
kinds of art Schadproducedin successive
stages of his careercould be surveyedin
isolation one from another. These spatial
dislocationsand discontinuitiesadmirably
suitedthe radicalshiftsin his output,which
includedcaesurassuchasthe one after1930,
when he pursuedcommercialand esoteric
interestsat the expense of his painting.In
some ways,however,he remainedremark-
ably consistent.Having made a genuinely
pioneeringcontributionbetween 1915and
192o to the brief floweringof Dada, with
small, delicately layered, abstractphoto-
collagesof 1919, which he calledSchado-
graphs, he began making photo-works
again in 1960, after a gap of forty years.
While not astimelyin the historyof experi-
mental photographyas the earlierworks,
theselaterexplorationsremainthe strongest
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
EXHIBITION REVIEWS
54. Maika,by ChristianSchad. 1929. 55.5 by 53.5
cm. (Privatecollection; exh. Neue Galerie,New
York).
(Jeu de
(Ludion). examples of his late work. The exhibition's
curators, Jill Lloyd and Michael Peppiatt,
were right to include a selection of them
from Schad's album Gaspard de la nuit,
published in 1980. Similarly consistent with
works of a half century earlier, Schad's
portraits of the I960s and 1970s generally
concentrate on single figures, but much of
the acute observation that distinguishes the
most important pictures of the late 1920O
is missing from the merely illustrative later
work and, appropriately, it was excluded
from the Paris and New York showings.
As recently as the 1970s, while the artist
was still alive, Schad was a neglected figure.
Even a decade after his death in 1982 many
of his important pictures of the mid-192os
were still in private collections, although
some have since found their way into
public collections in Paris and Berlin. They
have quickly become mainstays in exhibi-
tions devoted to early twentieth-century
realism, in particular Neue Sachlichkeit.
Ironically however, Gustav Hartlaub,
organiser of the seminal Neue Sachlichkeit
exhibition in 1925 in Mannheim, did not
include Schad's work. Today, recognition
of the emotional coolness of Schad's obser-
vation and the precision of his paint
handling (Fig.54) has belatedly consolidated
his reputation as one of the most important
German realistsof the Weimar period. Still,
there is a baffling gap between the very
great paintings, which number a handful
and were painted between 1927 and 1929
and the rest, which are visually less arresting
and rapidly become compositionally and
thematically formulaic. During the 1920S
he lived first in Naples, then Vienna and
Berlin. Schad's subjects were bohemian
and diffident European aristocrats(Fig.55),
writers, scientists, diplomats, most of them
urban socialites, including people who were
his friends, lovers and acquaintances.
THE BURLINGTON MAGAZINE - CXLV MAY 2003 387
?
EXHIBITION REVIEWS
The over-powerfullightingat the Musre
Maillolservedto minimisethe differences
between the best paintingsand the larger
body of workswhich appearmoremodish-
ly crisp than psychologicallypenetrating.
The picturesin the mainroomwere eccen-
trically installed without any governing
conventionsuchasa commoncentreline to
orderthe hang.
Of the works on paperand late photo-
works, the drawings,often subtly high-
lighted in delicate colours, originatedas
illustrationsfor books. Others,such as the
sketchesfor the two figures in his cele-
bratedpaintingAgostathe wingedmanand
Rasha the blackdove, were meticulously
observedpreparatorydrawings.There are
severaloddities,in particularly
the medieval
humoursexpressedas differentvariantsof
female genitaliaviewed in close-up. The
precisionand franknessof these, and the
eroticismand at timesmenacingor adven-
turous sexualityof other drawings,were
hallmarks of the timesthroughwhich Schad
and his generation,including Otto Dix,
lived. This was especiallythe case in the
yearsafterthe FirstWorldWarin which the
aftershocksof violence and socialupheaval
were most keenly experienced.
388 MAY 2003 * CXLV * THE BURLINGTON
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55. Portraitof
CountSaint-
Genois
d'Anneaucourt,
byChristian
Schad. 1927.
86 by 63 cm.
(Centre
Georges
Pompidou,
Paris;exh.
NeueGalerie,
NewYork).
56. Firststudy for the right-handpanel of War,by
Otto Dix. c.1930.Charcoal
andpencilon paper,
222.5by iii cm. (Kunsthalle,
Hamburg;exh.
Centre Paris).
Pompidou,
The chronological selectivity of the retreat into inner emigration and his move
CentrePompidou'sDix exhibitionavoided to the seclusion of the rural south-western
the artist'sjuvenilia and the long tail of corner of Germany. He retreated from his
his career after the Second World War. contentious subjects of the 192os and early
However,its subtitle,'DrawingsFromOne 1930s, including his great anti-war triptych
War to the Next', served to reinforcea Warfor which he made full-sized cartoons
widespreadsenseof earlytwentieth-centu- which were included in this exhibition.
ry Germanartisticidentity as forged and
forciblymouldedin the crucibleof histori-
cal events. This viewpoint had also been
evident in the 'Painterin History'by-line
attachedto the Beckmannretrospective.In
the Dix exhibitionone partof thissobriquet
was self-evident.Dix conveyedhis experi-
ences in the trenchesthrough dozens of
small,mainlysoft crayonsketches,a small
selectionof which was included.Any fore-
boding about the Second World War,
however, could not easilybe equatedwith
the idyllic southern German landscapes,
exquisitelyrenderedin silverpointor old-
masterlyred and black crayonwith white
highlightsthat were concentratedin the
latter part of the exhibition. It was, of
course,the hardeningof ideologicaloppo-
sitionto modernartists,includingDix, long
57. Headof a child,study for Thematch-seller,
by
a targetof right-wingbile, that hung over Otto Dix. 1926. Chalk with white highlights,40
the artist'spersonaland professionalcir- by 40 cm. (Privatecollection; exh. Centre
cumstancesin the 1930s. This fuelled his Pompidou, Paris).
MAGAZINE
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 EXHIBITION REVIEWS

of the 1930swhich pay homage to Diirer

and his contemporaries.Compounding
this, the upwardgazemeantthatthe glazed
works unavoidablyreflected the gallery
lighting. Viewing cabinets might have
made a more satisfactorysolution to the
limitationsof wall space.
If the displayill servedDix's astonishing-
ly varieddrawings,it waswell worthperse-
vering to encounterindividualworks.Dix
was a master draughtsman,evolving his
technique in the relatively descriptive
drawingsfromthe trenches,latterlyinfused
with crystallinefragmentationthatsuggest-
ed an increasingfamiliaritywith Cubism
:- : :.

andFuturism.His responseto the war then

witheasel,by Otto Dix. 1926.
58. Self-portrait
Charcoaland chalk on tracingpaper, Ioo by 69.5
cm. (GaleriePels-Leusden,Berlin; exh. Centre
Pompidou, Paris).
To maximise the impact of this small
show, two of the largerdrawingsfor War
were hung as an overtureat the entrance
(Fig.56). They echoed the placing of the
two oils by Dix owned by the Museum
which were hung on the approachesto the
exhibition.Their inclusionsuggested,per-
haps, that the showing of Dix's works on
paper was a natural outgrowth of the
collectiondisplaysthatoccupiedthe restof
the gallerieson level fourat the Pompidou.
If the date 1915-35 bracketingthe exhibi-
tion servedto excludethe weakerphasesof
Dix's career,severalaspectsof the concep-
tion of the exhibition and its installation
madeit hardto appreciatethe full extent of
Dix's achievementas a draughtsman.One
was the insertionof a few etchingsand a
tiny, unrepresentative sampleof Dix's mag-
nificent water-colours.These merit either
fiullerintegrationor an exhibitionof their
own. In fact,the whole displaymight have
benefited from more space. As it was, on
walls long enough to accommodatesix,
perhapseight, drawingsmoderatelyspaced
for comfortable viewing there were,
instead, thematic groupingsof sixteen to
eighteen works double- or sometimes
triple-hung. The immediate disadvantage
was thatworksin widely contrastingmedia
were forcedinto uncomfortablejuxtaposi-
tion simply because they shareda similar
subject-matter.To aggravatethis over-
dense presentation, the drawings were
installedvery high, arounda centreline of
perhapsI8o cm. As many are quite large,
this servedto sky the upperrangeof works
so thatone could no longerlook at them in
any detail,preventinga close examination,
for example,of the filigreedetail of Dix's
landscapesor treestudies,particularly those
appearedto go underground,resurfacing
in the seriesof drawingsand etchingsmade
in 1924, which vehemently dissectedthe
full horrors of the recent conflict with
morbid,ecstaticglee. These works, closely
alignedto Goya'sDisastersof warportfolio,
were followed around 1930 by the War
triptychfor which the full-size drawings
convey much of the impactof the painting.
Installedbetween these War-related works
were groups of portraits(Fig.57),drapery
studies, self-portraits(Fig.58), nudes and
landscapes,aswell assix preparatory sketch-
es for his triptych Big city(1927-28). For this
visitorthe selectionre-ignitedan old cura-
torialdebateaboutthe meritsof graspingan
opportunityto give a roundedview of an
artist'sachievementagainstan acknowledg-
ment of the physicalconstraintsimposedby
the availablespace.In spite of the tempta-
tions, a more honed selectionwould have
better served Dix's remarkableachieve-
ments.
I Catalogue: OttoDix. Dessinsd'uneguerrea l'autre.
Essays by Christian Derouet, Ulrike Lorentz and
Rainer Rochlitz. 160 pp. incl. 120 ills. in col. +
b. & w. (Gallimard,Paris,2003), 439. ISBN 2-07-
o011733-2.
2
Catalogue: Christian Schad - Das Friihwerk 1915-
193o. ByJill Lloyd and Michael Peppiatt. 240 pp. incl.
80 col. pls. + 40 b. & w. ills. (Schirmer/Mosel,
Munich, 2002), 39.80. ISBN 3-8296-oo60-7.
Richelieu: Art and Power
Cologne
by ARNAULD BREJON DE LAVERGNEE
Mus'edesBeaux-Arts,Lille
THE CHARACTER OF Cardinal Richelieu
(1585-1642) has long fascinated the general
public andscholarsalike. Importantstudies
carried out in the 1970s and I980s have
elaborated on earlier studies by Edouard
Bonnaff6, greatly enhancing our knowl-
edge of the chateau of Richelieu. It is well
known that Richelieu was a great builder
and that he saw art as an essential tool for
dynastic propaganda; architecture is, after
all, the expression par excellenceof religious,
civic or military authority, and thus of God
as the maker of all things. Jacques Thuillier
THE BURLINGTON
de Champaigne.c.1630-3S. Black chalkwith
white heightening, 34.3 by 22.7 cm. (Muse~edu
Louvre, Paris).
was right to recallthe 'Medici inheritance
on which Richelieu built. More ostenta-
tious than ever before, the head of the
French state was a man who collected and
treated the arts not simply at an administra-
tive level but with personalaffection....
This greatpassionfor the arts,which was
takenup by contemporaryFrenchsociety,
would certainlyhave existedwithout him,
but the cardinalguaranteedit."
These considerationsare the guiding
principlebehind the structureof Hilliard
Todd Goldfarb'sexhibition Richelieu:Art
and Power,2shown firstat the Museum of
Fine Arts,Montreal,andthen at the Wall-
raf-Richartz Museum, Cologne (closed
21st April),andit hasto be saidthat France
has done itself a disserviceby not securing
a Frenchvenue for the show.
The 18o works are divided among six
sections (althoughthe two venues show
differentselectionsof drawingsandprints).
The firstsection ('Forthe glory of France')
was one of the most important in the
exhibition.Of particularinterestherewere
the numerous portraits (cat. nos.I-27),
including examplesfrom the 'Galeriedes
hommes illustres'in the cardinal'spalace;
scenesfromhistory(Thesiegeof thecitadelof
Saint-Martin on the le de Re in printsand
drawingsby Callot;nos.28-33);andbuild-
ing projects(nos.36-5o), among them the
'Pavillonde l'Horloge',the 'GrandeGale-
rie' of the Louvreand the Lescotwing of
the Louvreby JacquesLemercier.Sylvain
Laveissibre, responsiblefor the exhibition's
section on the 'Galeriedes hommes illus-
tres',raisessome new hypotheses:he main-
tainsthatthe now lost PortraitofLesdiguieres
MAGAZINE - CXLV
- MAY 2003 389

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