Description
After serving in World War I, where he mastered the machine-gun, Dix began making art that set out to reveal society’s immorality and ugly truths. In this watercolor, an old prostitute’s wrinkled exterior and toothless, puckered mouth remind the viewer of the inevitability of death while playing on our vulnerability to vanity, greed, and lust.
Provenance
Galerie Nierendorf, Berlin, by Jan. 1961-at least Oct. 1963. Sold, Kunsthaus Math. Lempertz, Cologne, Dec. 1965, lot 211. Galerie Klihm, Munich, by Nov. 1966. Galerie Dr. Ernst Hauswedell, Baden-Baden, Sept. 1967. Galerie Regio, Lorrach, by Aug. 1968. Galerie Klihm, Munich. Private colelction, New York; sold, Sotheby’s, New York, Feb. 23, 1993, lot 49, to Dorothy Braude Edinburg, Brookline, MA; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 2013.
Accession Number
185914
Medium
Brush and black ink and watercolor on cream Japanese paper
Dimensions
52 × 38.6 cm (20 1/2 × 15 1/4 in.)
Classification
prints and drawing
Credit Line
Gift of Dorothy Braude Edinburg to the Harry B. and Bessie K. Braude Memorial Collection
