Deborah Ripley
Director
Property from the Collection of Richard Harris
Lot 6
Otto Dix
(1891-1969)
Der Krieg (The War) (51 works)
Amended
9 May 2023, 11:00 EDT
New YorkSold for US$327,975 inc. premium
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Prints (US)
Matthew Stavro
Associate Specialist
Rebecca Schwartz
Cataloguer
Olivia Grabowsky
Junior Cataloguer
Otto Dix (1891-1969)
Der Krieg (The War) (51 works) (Karsch 70-119, Karsch 120), 1924
The complete portfolio, comprising 50 etchings with drypoint and aquatint on laid paper, each signed in pencil, numbered in Roman numerals sequentially and numbered 57/70, with the five paper wrappers (as issued), each wrapper additionally signed and numbered '57', on cream wove and laid papers with the BSB watermark, printed by O. Felsing, Charlottenburg, published by Karl Nierendorf, Berlin, accompanied by the grey linen-covered portfolio case with the title in black on the cover, plus the additional plate Soldat und Nonne (Karsch 120), signed in pencil, numbered 56/70 and dedicated, all prints framed, accompanied by the original 26-page prospectus entitled 'Der Krieg: 24 Offsetdrucke nach Originalen aus dem Radierwerk von Otto Dix', with 24 offset lithograph illustrations and titles of the first 24 prints in the portfolio, published in 1924 by Verlag Karl Nierendorf, Berlin. (51 works)
each image approx. 10 x 7 5/8in (25.5 x 19.2cm)
each sheet approx. 14 x 18 1/2in (35.6 x 47cm)
portfolio case (overall) 19 3/4 x 14 1/2 x 2 1/4in (50 x 37 x 6cm)
The complete portfolio, comprising 50 etchings with drypoint and aquatint on laid paper, each signed in pencil, numbered in Roman numerals sequentially and numbered 57/70, with the five paper wrappers (as issued), each wrapper additionally signed and numbered '57', on cream wove and laid papers with the BSB watermark, printed by O. Felsing, Charlottenburg, published by Karl Nierendorf, Berlin, accompanied by the grey linen-covered portfolio case with the title in black on the cover, plus the additional plate Soldat und Nonne (Karsch 120), signed in pencil, numbered 56/70 and dedicated, all prints framed, accompanied by the original 26-page prospectus entitled 'Der Krieg: 24 Offsetdrucke nach Originalen aus dem Radierwerk von Otto Dix', with 24 offset lithograph illustrations and titles of the first 24 prints in the portfolio, published in 1924 by Verlag Karl Nierendorf, Berlin. (51 works)
each image approx. 10 x 7 5/8in (25.5 x 19.2cm)
each sheet approx. 14 x 18 1/2in (35.6 x 47cm)
portfolio case (overall) 19 3/4 x 14 1/2 x 2 1/4in (50 x 37 x 6cm)
Footnotes
Provenance
C.G. Boerner, Dusseldorf, Germany
Exhibited
Wellcome Collection, London, November 25, 2012 - February 24, 2013, Death: A Self Portrait
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, November 29, 2017 - January 7, 2019, World War l and the Visual Arts
Otto Dix's monumental graphic masterpiece, Der Krieg, considered by many to be one of the greatest anti-war artworks ever created, documents the horrific realities of war in unflinching graphic images. Dix, who at the outset of World War I enthusiastically volunteered to serve as an artillery gunner at the Eastern Front, experienced firsthand the terrible suffering endured by soldiers fighting in the trenches. Creating Der Krieg only six years after the end of World War I, Dix's scenes are rendered in meticulous and horrifying detail, with an authenticity that is relentless and terrifying.
An additional 51st print, Soldat und Nonne (Soldier and Nun), deemed too scandalous by the publisher to be added to the portfolio, is also included.
Saleroom notices
Some of the etchings are on wove paper.
