embrace art, the time�� an<l all that is of cur.-enc vitality. ••we hope n Sterenbcrg wrttes structured coun1tr.1.
n1tr.1.naclc on the peripheral charm of objects and individuals (a defect).
in rh e- c;1t.aloguc. •&r.hat our Wesl'Crn comrades:- whom ,A� would very much like to see in
�-toscow and Petrograd, will no< keep us watting long.�• I can imagine wh:ir will be sent
to R us sia (if an}·thtng at .alJ> to rcpr�n( arti:-..tk work in Gcnnany. It will be at )cast ten
)'-Cars behtnd the rimes.
193
CARL EINSTE.a
..
Otto Dix
One has had quite enough of the color-soaked rur.al in-laws (Paull Gauguin and (Vincent]
Van Gogh; the o(ti�ioo�:- respectable nephew� of [Ht!'nri) �-latisse should withdraw to the
pcm�inccs among 1he portJ)' phtltscines. ft w:as quick]y over, may dleSC trivial efforts stir
up 3 little e�citcment in Kmotc scrviln(s• quarters or gather dust in back hallways of
middlebrow clothier� Perh-c1ps the frames should Ix saved; tilt matef'i3IS arc "�nh
something.
The poles of contcmporarJ art are strct�hc:d aparc co che breaking point- Constructors.
abstraclionisu e$tablishcd the di<:tatorship of form� others, like G.r02. t Dixt and (Rudolf]
Schltchtcr, demolish ithe re3I with pith�• objecti\•ity� \l0�:4-k this er.a .. and force it into
sclf.,irony. Painting a medium of cool execution; obscn·atiun an iosuumcot of relentless
att.3ck_ Such a recusant attitude disregards affable painting with a mcial conscience; i1 treats
{he lane'" the WJ)' revulutionaries �·alue Wilhelmine pension plans. Bourgeois realit}'­
droning performance. mercurial swindle. and choking philistinism-is a laughable anach 1
ronism; thii �,ery is a t�tmenr plant for naus,e.a_ TheTe js n:,turally no shortage of
plumply agang pupils still u1rning ooc vacu0U$, fonnufai< imitations of th� master u•ho
todct)', pa�ionatcl)' and belatedly, disavows his pets. The time for conciliators frul}' -.vell
be o....·er. instead of portrait$.. ser�·iJely reodeted and e-x�n$tvely framed, formal innovation
or pro\'ocati\·c uprightn�s i� me order- of the day. If a Gcnnan wants m rept'esent realicy�
he no longer (hinks of spring, tlo"�crpots� and the chani)y ordinar}' s.t1on. Spring forces
not only the still Jifcs of the charmingly marketable; beJsores1 abortion .. and multiplying
venereal disca� "'ork Ix.st of all; S\\r-c<:t spring satinZC-$ m.alicious plo(s, outrag� and
hudgetar)' details; winter gets soiled by wet feet, black-market galoshcs t overheated houses
of forntcatton, and murdcr<>u� price inctt:aSes-thcsc simply routine tidbilS of the stinking
panorama_
Dix gi\'(:� lb.i�cra-which isooly the-<.aricaturcof one-a rcs<>lutc and cechnically sound
kick in its swoJJcn bell�· .. wrinw; confessions of ,Ti1enes from jt, and produces an upright
depiction of its people, their sly faces grinning an array of sto1cn mu�. A great, old painter
l,v�s in Part�IGc<lrgesJ Rouault-who spits on the pre.senl in a simibr- fashion: bridal
wreaths, shirtfronts. and medals. These painters are waging civil w.air; thetr .-epul�ive
subject m3uer dra.ws opposjtion, whether opponent$ refuse and demolish it as adherents
of ubj«t1cssncss or as -0�rvc£'S. Roth are now expedient.
A sl�neering attack against chese ridiculous tim�, iconoc:la�m. Painters wage "�·ar.
,,·hcther they invent forms or nnn them through representation. reacti ng with a carefully
They aim the exploding kitsch of the pre5Cllt matter-of-factly in the faca of 1heir
contemporarn1.
Dix".s pictures arc an assaul� sober, withtM.11 the improper assertion of a bclovcd t false
personality lhat alwa}'S sells smirking C.alembourg' instead of f.act. Personaliry 1ha1
accumulates in jok� and dy anecd01es is a defect and .a sellout of the bankrupt \\'h.oc\.·cr
paints like Dix could eastly tum into �ieggendorf. Dix Jares to produce a suitable kitsch,
namely, the ridiculous world of the deverly stupid bowgoois splashing prOj>Crly about in
stifling oroinariRa'S.
Dix began ·with a dangerously literary 3pproach; the picrure did not yet absorb the
insight. At first he srimu.latc<i his painting with banging sensations. Grosz and Schlichter
began similarly; Cte0rg, of oourse, disco\'ered the spatial composition of the grotesque .at
the outset. Dix initially starts with shooting galleries 41nd sexual murders. He is very
takntccl.. but somewhat oppressed by this mixture. Romanticism of the Jocal �ction of the
paper; somewhat childish journalism. Soon enough he dis()Cllscd with the l�rary and
found among the sensations the bearer of his work: th:u disgusting ele1nc.nt of pcnnanent1y
vacuous ordinariness.. The anecdote was o,·crcom-e. �ow Dix paints heads. pcnctcaringly
and convincingly, Acsh in action u,ith inffated muscles. He discovered che arrogantly
disgusting creature that squats on every chair, deceives in scupid philistine sentences, and
defends a shaky situation with a rear end hot with cash; he gives kitsch ro kitsch. He puts
the gang in the p1ace it deserves, negari'\� and smeared, airless and -with a narrowing
background of bricks and nothingness. Dix rightly recognizes that it is no< the accidenta1
murderer who is especially dangerous; tripping :and bonc�broking1 the ladies and gen�
dcmcn glide along the proper pam of legitimate baseness.. So,. instead of laboriomly
profound �necdores, c�lessly choking shabbin�ss. Dix renders permanent fact and
principkd poinc-of-\·iew with exquisite painrerly skills. TilC5C paintings arc not carica­
tures--im possibJe since the whole nobJe breed sweats caricanire in itself_ That is where
Dix > the forthrigh� self-trained observer. stri�. To him a rundown apartment house, an
overstuffed chair, an irrigator, and a prosthesis become na.tun:. He paints wo well to be
a (Eduard Ritter von] Griitzncr from the left l.ike the liber�lly sensiri�c [Fritz) von Uhde.
Dix sets craft and objectivity against sham and a sordid sensibility. The bourgeois gets
kitxh back from him in �harp fucus; hr ClQ do it bec:au$e he paints "--cry wt-U, so well that
his painting .aborts lr..itsch, executes it. The time of the inoffensive portcait of wealthy
gangsters and S\\;ndleJ$ is over. Dix paints what is current �d thereby knocks it down
,vit:hout the swollen solemnity of a pr-cttifying do]c. Painting as a critical statement�
194
GUSTAV HARllAUB
, r--- a..• • • • ..
lntn>EJUdion
....L lo
1
�
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�•w ■17 : ·wUIIMffl "-llnling stM.e �IOIUSffl
Fint publubod as -..lum Gdar.,., in� ''Nrw Stu-Al�'': �t: Alakrn seii «ni �umis'lllw
(Mantiheiln= Stid� Kuiwhalle,. ,925).
On the thresho]d o( this exhibition of I.he most rcccnl German painting, it is imp)lt3Jlt
to avoid a dangerous mistake. Simply bccau.sie evidence is displ3)'ea here of artistic
1. A '4-ord g::unc:.