THE COLLECTION
Otto Dix (German, 1891–1969)
Nocturnal Apparition (Nächtliche Erscheinung)
- Date:
- 1923
- Medium:
- Lithograph
- Dimensions:
- composition: 19 1/8 x 14 5/8" (48.6 x 37.1 cm); sheet: 24 1/2 x 18 7/16" (62.3 x 46.8 cm)
- Paper:
- Cream, smooth, laid.
- Publisher:
- Karl Nierendorf, Berlin
- Printer:
- unknown
- Edition:
- 65; plus one trial proof of state I
- Credit Line:
- Carol O. Selle Fund (by exchange)
- Copyright:
- © 2016 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn
- Reference:
- Karsch 64 II.
- MoMA Number:
- 710.1995
- Themes:
- Death, Postwar Politics, Sex
- Techniques:
- Lithography
German Expressionism: The Graphic Impulse
March 27–July 11, 2011
The nocturnal apparition here is a streetwalker, a seeming death mask version of Dix's luridly colored and grotesquely distorted portrait of another prostitute, Leonie. The image may reflect the common fear of syphilis and other diseases associated with prostitution; it is also a scorched, spectral emblem of the ravaged state of German society. In the background at the left is a subtly camouflaged profile of the artist.