Nächtliche Erscheinung (Nighttime Apparition) 1923

Otto Dix pulled this image, 'Nighttime Apparition', out of the darkness with ink, maybe using lithography, a printmaking process involving grease and water. Look at the face! It’s all sharp angles and jagged teeth. You get the feeling Dix wasn't interested in prettying things up. I imagine him hunched over the stone, digging in, scraping away at the surface. It’s not a painting, but it has that same intensity, that same wrestling with form. There is a feeling of disgust or horror. It makes me think about Goya’s darker works—the way he used etching to capture the grotesque. Artists are always in conversation with each other, riffing off the past, trying to find their own voice. Dix definitely found his; it's a voice that's raw, unflinching, and totally his own. He’s not afraid to show us the ugly side of things.