Otto DixGerman, 1891–1969Josef May
May one see it?
Yes, receiving visitors
On public display.
- Checked
- 2 days ago
- In this state since
- Aug 19, 2026
- Source
- The museum's own collection data
About the painting
A leader of the New Objectivity movement in Germany, Dix painted bitter critiques of modern capitalist society. To achieve a more incisive realism in his brutally honest portraits, he mixed egg tempera with other media. The sitter for this portrait, Josef May, was the Jewish manager of the Grünberg grain company in Arnsberg. When the Nazis seized power in 1933, May fled to Holland, where he died of a heart attack in 1938.
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Particulars
- Accession number
- 1985.40
In the catalog
Sources
- The Cleveland Museum of Art: the museum's own open data · fetched 5 days ago
- Image: The Cleveland Museum of Art — © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn
Meanwhile, in the life of Otto Dix
The whole life1920s
A ruthless chronicle of Weimar Germany
Like Grosz, Dix is extremely critical of contemporary German society, unsparingly depicting prostitution, violence, old age and death and often dwelling on Lustmord, or sexualized murder. His legless and disfigured veterans, a common sight on Berlin's streets in the 1920s, reveal the ugly side of war and the forgotten status of these men in German society.
1924
Joining the Berlin Secession
In 1924 Dix joins the Berlin Secession.
c. 1924
Oil glazes over a tempera underpainting
By this time Dix is developing an increasingly realistic style of painting, using thin glazes of oil paint over a tempera underpainting in the manner of the old masters.
1925
The Trench scandal: Adenauer cancels the purchase
The Trench causes such a furor that the Wallraf-Richartz Museum hides the painting behind a curtain; in 1925 the then-mayor of Cologne, Konrad Adenauer, cancels the purchase of the painting and forces the museum's director to resign.
1925
The Neue Sachlichkeit exhibition in Mannheim
Dix contributes to the Neue Sachlichkeit exhibition in Mannheim, which also features works by George Grosz, Max Beckmann, Heinrich Maria Davringhausen, Karl Hubbuch, Rudolf Schlichter, Georg Scholz and many others.
1927
Son born: Ursus Dix
![Young Family (Lovers) (Junge Familie [Liebespaar]), also known under the title "Homunkulus", Otto Dix, 1918](https://api.nga.gov/iiif/df009930-91ff-4d00-85c7-6a52083047ce/full/!2400,2400/0/default.jpg)
