Self Portrait

1912

Otto Dix German, 1891-1969

On View

Modern, Level 2, North Wing

Image Only Image + Details All Images High Resolution TIFF Metadata

About the Artwork

Please note: This section is empty
Markings

Please note: This section is empty

This section contains information about signatures, inscriptions and/or markings an object may have.
Provenance

Please note: This section is empty

Provenance is a record of an object's ownership. We are continually researching and updating this information to show a more accurate record and to ensure that this object was ethically and legally obtained.

For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:
Exhibition History

Please note: This section is empty

The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.
Published References

Please note: This section is empty

We regularly update our object record as new research and findings emerge, and we welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.
Catalogue Raisonné

Please note: This section is empty

A catalogue raisonné is an annotated listing of artworks created by an artist across different media.
Credit Line for Reproduction

Please note: This section is empty

The credit line includes information about the object, such as the artist, title, date, and medium. Also listed is its ownership, the manner in which it was acquired, and its accession number. This information must be cited alongside the object whenever it is shown or reproduced.

About the Artwork

Dix’s early work illustrates the renewed interest of the expressionists in their cultural patrimony. This painting pays homage to past masters of the German and Flemish Renaissance in its composition and technical execution. Painted with a glaze technique in which oil and tempera paint are applied in thin, translucent layers, the luminous surface also permitted precise graphic detail. The spare, formal rendering of the young man is enlivened by the intensity of his penetrating gaze.

Title Self Portrait

Artwork Date 1912

Artist Otto Dix

Life Dates 1891-1969

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. German

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. Unknown

Medium Oil on paper mounted on poplar panel

Dimensions Unframed: 29 × 19 1/2 inches (73.7 × 49.5 cm) Framed: 34 5/8 × 25 1/2 × 3 1/2 inches (87.9 × 64.8 × 8.9 cm)

Classification Paintings

Department European Modern Art to 1970

Credit Gift of Robert H. Tannahill

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 51.65

Markings

Signed Signed and dated, upper left: DIX | 1912

Inscriptions ------

Provenance

until April 29, 1925, Graphisches Kabinett Hugo Erfurth (Dresden, Germany)

April 29, 1925-1937, purchased by Kunstmuseum Düsseldorf (Düsseldorf, Germany)

1937, confiscated by the German Reich (Deutsches Reich)/The Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda (Reichsministerium für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda), Berlin, Germany as “degenerate art”

March 1937, consigned to (Galerie Ferdinand Möller, Berlin, Germany)

January 1938-1951, purchased by Robert H. Tannahill [1893-1969] (Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, USA)

1951-present, gift to the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

Please note: This section is empty

The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.

Suggest Feedback

Published References

Twentieth Century Portraits. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1943, p. 70 (ill.).

Haass, Lillian Henkel and William A. Bostick. "Annual Report of the Founders Society." Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts 31, no. 2 (1951–1952): pp. 44, 49.

Löffler, Fritz. Otto Dix: Leben und Werk. Dresden, 1960, p. 303, pl. 1 (ill.).

Selected Works from the Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1979, p. 227, no. 178 (ill.).

Löffler, Fritz. Otto Dix 1891–1969: Oeuvre der Gemälde. Recklinghausen, 1981, pp. 10, 78, 300, no. 1912/3 (ill.).

Uhr, Horst. Masterpieces of German Expressionism at the Detroit Institute of Arts. New York, 1982, p. 62 (ill.).

100 Masterworks from the Detroit Institute of Arts. New York, 1985, pp. 214-215 (ill.).

Robinson, William H. "Otto Dix's 'Portrait of Josef May.'" Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 74, no. 8 (October 1987): 306–331, pp. 306–307 (ill.).

Wilkinson, MaryAnn. "'A Great Simplicity of Form': Two Works by Paula Modersohn-Becker." Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts 80, no. 1/2 (2006): 28–35, p. 33 (ill.).

Beal, Graham W.J. and Debra N. Mancoff. Treasures of the DIA. Detroit, 2007, p. 381, no. 305 (ill.).

Keyes, George. "Portraiture—Mirror or Mask?" Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts 83, no. 1/4 (2009): 4–11, pp. 10–11 (ill.).

Kindly share your feedback or any additional information, as this record is still a work in progress and may need further refinement.

Suggest Feedback