Otto Dix, The Match Seller, 1920
Social Criticism in the painting “The Match Seller” by Otto Dix
Art History 109 – Dr S. Lawton
The painting “The Match Seller” was completed by Otto Dix in 1920. The painting speaks of post-war dehumanization, ignorance and the painter’s social criticism. “Dix was wounded several times along the Western Front. In August 1918, he served in Flanders where he took a nearly fatal wound to the neck” (Fulmer). The painter himself experienced irreversible traumas and the horrors of the war. The artwork depicts a blind war veteran without legs and arms selling matches in the street. The people who pass by ignore the man, the faces of the pedestrians are not portrayed. The dog urinates on the man’s stump. McKiernan states that Dix portrays Germany as “economically and socially broken—demoralized, resentful and violent.” This is an accurate description of the overall mood of the painting. The artwork challenges the social, cultural, economic, political and even spiritual values of the time. The social gap and the absence of communication between classes are vividly represented in “The Match Seller.”
The painting encompasses the elements of cubism and Dadaism. The central figure is a crippled man, a war veteran. He cries out “‘Streichhölzer, Echte Schwedenhölzer’ (‘Matches, genuine Swedish matches’)” (McKiernan). Behind the man, there is a door with wooden elements resembling a crucifix. The man and the door are painted in dark colors and placed in the middle of the artwork. Brightly painted and long-legged pedestrians are running by without looking at the man. The dog with a joyful expression is urinating on the man’s stump, suggesting that he is not even considered a human being. He is not noticed neither by people nor by the pet. There is absolutely no respect and attention. The veteran attempts to join the social structure by selling the matches. The ironic symbol of the matches is particularly disheartening. Fire is often associated with destruction. In the context of the painting, it could hint the “remains” of the war. There are only Swedish matches left from years of firing canons and guns.
The war veteran has no limbs and this is a symbol that speaks of both physical and social powerlessness. Black glasses point to the fact that the man is also blind and unable to see the horrors of ignorance. His survival after the war has zero appreciation. This lack of recognition could be viewed as the core social criticism in Dix’s work. The new generation fails to recognize a war survivor and there is not just ignorance, but even shame depicted in the artwork. The people refuse to look back at the past, the suffering and war victims. The victory is viewed as triumphant, but the “isolation and the poverty” of the man who is “not represented as an officer decorated with medals” (Vlajiü) suggests that there are absolutely no positive sides to war. Besides traumas, the detail that hints at the man’s past experience is his old uniform hat (Vlajiü).
“The Match Seller” is an artwork loaded with social criticism, details, and symbols that are truly eye-opening. The brutal postwar atmosphere is straightforwardly presented in a realistic and blunt manner. It even seems as if the painter represents not just two different social classes, but two different societies. The passers-by are mechanic and busy, they are a part of the new system and peace that the soldiers were fighting for. Yet the fighters themselves sacrificed their lives to peace. Through Dadaism and cubism, Otto Dix uses forms and textures to create a visual social message that portrays the ugly truth of the era. The synthesis of the forms and clear design principles of “The Match Seller” quickly deliver the message to the viewers. The painting is not only emotion-provoking, but also thought-provoking. It makes a frank statement that there is not just a gap, but a void between people after the war. The society is dehumanized, mechanical, ignorant and deeply traumatized. But worst of all, there is a complete absence of unity.
Works Cited
Fulmer, Jeffrey. “Biography.” Feb. 2009. The Online Otto Dix Project: A German Artist and Print Maker. https://www.ottodix.org/biography/
McKiernan, Mike. “Otto Dix, The Match Seller 1920,” Occupational Medicine, Volume 64, Issue 3, 1 April 2014, Pages 148–149, https://doi.org/10.1093/occmed/kqu007
“Dada.” Westchester Community College. https://art109wcc.wordpress.com/textbook/art-between-the-wars/dada/
Vlajiü, Ada. “Invalidity and deformity in the art of Weimar Republic.” History of Medicine. 71 (4): pp. 413-418. 2014. http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0042-8450/2014/0042-84501404413V.pdf
Justine Guercio 