Wilhelm Heinrich Otto Dix’s "The Skat Players" Article Analysis Essay Example

Wilhelm Heinrich Otto Dix’s, The Skat Players, presents a transparent portrayal of the interwar period in germany through a collage of three disfigured German military officers which contrasts traditional nationalistic propaganda (doc). Dix was a German citizen and soldier, giving him coherent insight to the fragility of the German nation after the first world war(doc). The stauch display of the surviving veterans' permanent physical and mental mutilations reveal the devastation of nationalism and industrialization of the war and its aftermath of societal unrest which left its population vulnerable to poverty and extremist leadership. This is displayed through the impact of industrialization to the war, Germany's failing economy, and fragile nationalism. 

The resolution of the debts and damages of world war one destroyed Germany’s economy leaving them in a state of depression and susceptibility. Dix depicts a card game with the three amputated officers in an unsettling manner with their limbs contorted to function and their faces missing features and poorly strewn together. The display of gambling expresses the jeopardization World war one had on their economy leaving them in severe financial poverty.   The depiction of their bent bodies imitates the disjointed society after the war. Their faces missing features and held together by stitches and missing facial features symbolizes the fragility and the lack of structure of their country.

The industrialization of the First world war magnified devastation of war leaving permanent damages. Otto Dix exposes reflections of industrialization on war through the contrasting display of cold metal prosthetics and glass fused with the soldiers flesh. The leading cause of deaths in world war one was artillery and this was due to the industrialization of weaponry that was devastating to its victims. It is ironic that devices meant to fix them have the same origins as the devices that hurt them. Without industrialization the destruction of cities, populations and armies would not be as substantial. 

The German’s strong sense of pride and nationalism was a mirror illusions deflated and shattered and wavering after their loss of the war - caused Germans to question their nationalism. Dix’s interpretation of the results of war showed a gritty display of its veterans using rough textures, unflattering mutilations, and gambling in a non-heroic way not glamorizing their service. Dix displayed the irony with the soldiers out of war still wearing their uniforms and medals through the war disabled them from future contribution to society. This challenged traditional reflections of war and nationalism that decorated its fallen soldiers to maintain public image and uphold its glory. This antiwar stance and Dix’s disapproval of the war caused him to be labeled a degenerate artist (document 17).

The Skat Players, exhibits an honest representation of the remnants of German society after world war one that did not embellish the bruitlistic inhumanities of war. Dix’s blunt depiction of maimed soldiers gambling exposes how the overuse of industrialization and nationalism in war create desolating effects that direct a country into vulnerability to political divide and hardship. This is established through extensive damage that the mass of industrialized weapons had on soldiers, Germany’s state of depression during the interwar period, and the societal divide towards ideas of nationalism and patriotism.