Prager Straße (Prague Street)Ότο ΝτιξNone

Identification of Prager Straße (Prague Street)

Prager Straße (Prague Street) is an oil-and-collage-on-canvas work by Otto Dix, executed in July 1920. The painting captures a scene on the Prager Straße in Dresden, Germany, during the period shortly after the First World War.

The composition focuses on the urban landscape of Dresden, documenting the social realities of the immediate post-war era. Through a combination of oil paint and collage techniques, Dix presents a fragmented view of the street, centering on the presence of war cripples within the city's public space.

Composition and Visual Narrative

The composition presents a fragmented view of urban life. In the foreground, a character from the middle or upper class is depicted without legs, moving with the assistance of a skateboard and canes. He wears a bowler hat and a jacket adorned with a medal. Beneath the skateboard, a leaflet is visible with the text “Juden raus!”.

The background contains several distinct figures that populate the street. A poorly dressed beggar with a beard and only one functional arm is present, seeking alms. Nearby, a little girl draws with chalk on the edge of a prosthetist's window. To the right, the back of a woman is seen, showing only one high heel as she passes through the scene.

Related Works by Otto Dix

Dix's exploration of social upheaval and the psychological aftermath of conflict is evident in his earlier works. In 1920, he produced The Skat Players, an oil-on-canvas work capturing the despair of post-war Germany through a Dadaist lens. This period of intense observation continued into 1923 with The Trench, a painting that faced immediate controversy for its graphic portrayal of the battlefield. This unflinching approach to the realities of war was further distilled in 1924 through The War, a series of 50 drypoint and aquatint etchings.

As the 1920s progressed, the artist's focus shifted toward the urban landscape and the decadence of the city. Portrait of the Journalist Sylvia Von Harden was painted in 1926, capturing a specific character of the era. By 1928, his gaze turned toward the complexities of urban life with the presentation of Metropolis in Dresden.