Otto DixGerman, 1891–1969Lens is Bombed, from War
Can I see it?
Not on view at present
Where is “Lens is Bombed, from War” now? Collection: Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago. Not on view at present. Checked September 29, 2026.
Chicago, United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the work
World War I was the first industrial war, and it took full and destructive advantage of symbols of progress, such as the airplane shown here. These images of civilian destruction would have played off the 10th-anniversary celebrations of the beginning of the “glorious” war taking place in 1924, the same year that Otto Dix’s print cycle was produced. For the artist, the human capacity to destroy trumped the glamour of the stories of the fighting aces like the Red Barron or Hermann Göring being taken up in nationalist circles.
Art Institute of ChicagoCC BY 4.0
Details
- Accession number
- 1999.359.3
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Image: Art Institute of Chicago — © the artist or rights holder
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.
1 February 1923
Married: Martha Dix
14 June 1923
Daughter born: Nelly Dix
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 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.
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.
![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)
