''The Match Seller'' (German: ''Streichholzhändler'') is a 1920 oil painting by the German

Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (Zurich), Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 192 ...

and

Neue Sachlichkeit The New Objectivity (in german: Neue Sachlichkeit) was a movement in German art that arose during the 1920s as a reaction against expressionism. The term was coined by Gustav Friedrich Hartlaub, the director of the ''Kunsthalle'' in Mannheim, who ...

artist

Otto Dix Wilhelm Heinrich Otto Dix (; 2 December 1891 – 25 July 1969) was a German painter and printmaker, noted for his ruthless and harshly realistic depictions of German society during the Weimar Republic and the brutality of war. Along with Geor ...

. The work is in the permanent collection of the

Staatsgalerie Stuttgart The Staatsgalerie Stuttgart (, "State Gallery") is an art museum in Stuttgart, Germany, it opened in 1843. In 1984, the opening of the Neue Staatsgalerie (''New State Gallery'') designed by James Stirling transformed the once provincial gallery ...

. Painted a year after World War I, it depicts a crippled and homeless veteran match seller who is ostensibly ignored by

bourgeois The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. They ...

passersby on a street in Germany. The painting has been interpreted as a critique the war's brutality and the neglect of veterans in German society, while alluding to the artist's disapproval of the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...

's societal and political decay. Dix incorporated the

collage Collage (, from the french: coller, "to glue" or "to stick together";) is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole. ...

technique, popularized by

artists, to diverge from traditional art forms. The

Nazi regime Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

later labeled ''The Match Seller'' as "

degenerate art Degenerate art (german: Entartete Kunst was a term adopted in the 1920s by the Nazi Party in Germany to describe modern art. During the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler, German modernist art, including many works of internationally renowned artists, ...

", confiscating it between 1937 and 1938.

Description

The composition depicts a scene where a homeless and crippled war veteran is seen selling matches on a street in Germany. Several well-dressed passersby flee from the quadrupled and blind amputee, while a

dachshund The dachshund ( or ; German: "badger dog"), also known as the wiener dog, badger dog, and sausage dog, is a short-legged, long-bodied, hound-type dog breed. The dog may be smooth-haired, wire-haired, or long-haired, and comes in a variety of c ...

, with its gaze turned toward the viewer, urinates on the veteran's peglegs. As others ignore him, the veteran cries out the phrase “Matches, original Swedish matches!” (German: “Streichhölzer, Echte Schwedenhölzer") written on the composition using white lettering.

Analysis

According to art historian and curator Sabine Rewald, what set Dix apart from other painters associated with the

movement was his "fascination with the 'ugly'". Painted one year after the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...

, ''The Match Seller'' is one of four "pictures of cripples" Dix completed while in Dresden to protest the brutality of the war and the lack of respect for the veterans among the contemporary German society. Otto Dix was a veteran himself, having served in a machine gun unit on the Western Front of World War I as a

non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is a military officer who has not pursued a commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority by promotion through the enlisted ranks. (Non-officers, which includes most or all enli ...

, and the experience of the war and its brutality deeply affected the artist. Moreover, the composition has also been interpreted as the artist’s political critique of the

, including the demoralization of its post-war society and the economic inequality that would contribute to the subsequent rise of the National Socialist government. Dix's depiction of the veteran as a "dehumanized outcast" has been compared to the ''The Beggars'', a 1568 painting completed by the Netherlandish Renaissance artist

Pieter Bruegel the Elder Pieter Bruegel (also Brueghel or Breughel) the Elder (, ; ; – 9 September 1569) was the most significant artist of Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting, a painter and printmaker, known for his landscapes and peasant scenes (so-called genr ...

. Dix's 1920 composition includes

, a technique invented by the

Cubists Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...

that became popular among the artists associated with the

movement in Germany, including

Hannah Höch Hannah Höch (; 1 November 1889 – 31 May 1978) was a German Dada artist. She is best known for her work of the Weimar period, when she was one of the originators of photomontage. Photomontage, or fotomontage, is a type of collage in which the pa ...

and

Kurt Schwitters Kurt Hermann Eduard Karl Julius Schwitters (20 June 1887 – 8 January 1948) was a German artist who was born in Hanover, Germany. Schwitters worked in several genres and media, including dadaism, constructivism, surrealism, poetry, sound, pain ...

. The use of collage allowed artists to shift away from traditional forms of artmaking in favor of more modern and unorthodox materials. Dix began using collage in late 1919. He also incorporated this technique into ''Prague Street'', another painting completed in 1920. Along with many other works by Dix, ''The Match Seller'' was included on the list of works of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

and confiscated between 1937 and 1938.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Match Seller, The 1920 paintings Dada Paintings by Otto Dix Weimar culture