Battle-weary Troops Retreat (Battle of the Somme), from War

It is worth emphasizing that Otto Dix served for three years as a soldier in the trenches. By the end of the war, he was a sergeant in a machine-gun unit. The soldier highlighted through the contrast of light and dark in the middle of this print resembles Dix’s self-portrait as a soldier, which he completed as a presentation drawing for the folio that he gave to his dealer Karl Nierendorf. He depicted himself as a distinct part of the group of ragtag soldiers marching on in spite of everything.