The Great Depression and Economy in Crisis

The 20th century was one of the darkest times in history so far; many important events happened during the time like wars, flu pandemic, The Great Depression, technology advancements, and so much more. In the 1900s, science and technology have advanced to a new level and many discoveries were made. World War I started around the 1910s, which lead to many deaths, and when Nazis took over, the Great Depression started. The Great Depression put the economy in crisis; many factories closed due to bankruptcy and millions of people lost their jobs, which lead to poverty and starvation. War has left many devastated effects behind and it has finally come to an end with The Cold War. According to Necrometrics, ‘203 million people died by war and oppression during the 20th century’ (pg. 1) Wars, diseases, and The Great Depression profoundly influenced many artists during the time. Artists gradually portrayed death themes in art, music, and theater to express their loss, emotions, and experience they have witnessed during the 20th century.

Wars and flu pandemic led to widespread deaths and starvation during the 20th century. Wars and flu have caused many people who have experienced life and death, while others have lost their loved ones. During the time, the Expressionism movement was formed to allow artists to express their emotions and feelings through their artworks. Many artists are well known for this movement, like Edvard Munch and Otto Dix. Both of these artists have portrayed death in their paintings from their experiences and emotions at the time. Edvard Munch, who had a sizable impact on German Expressionism and one of his famous works during the time, is ‘The Scream’ (Edvard Munch, n.d). This painting showed a man standing on a bridge with both of his hands on his face screaming. Behind him, the sky is swirling in red, which seems very unnatural like an ominous is coming. When looking at this painting, it provokes the feeling of fears, uncertainty, and despair. Munch works were heavily influenced by his experience, as many of his family members died from tuberculosis disease, and with everything that happened during the time left him in a state of mental distress. Munch ‘ The Scream’ ( Wdvard Munc, n.d) is the most iconic piece of art in the history for the expressionist movement.

On the other hand, Otto Dix is also known for the expressionist movement as his ‘ Der Krieg’ painting brought many emotions to viewers, such as pain, fear, confusion, and devastation. According to The Museum of Modern Art ‘Dix is best known for paintings and prints filled with anguished, exploited human figures representing the turmoil of his time.’ (para 1). Wilhelm Heinrich Otto Dix was one of the crucial artists during the 20th century and many of his artworks are from his experience from the war. Wilhelm Heinrich Otto Dix, also known as Otto Dix was born in 1891 in Untermhaus, Germany. Dix is the eldest in the family and both of his parents were of the middle working class. At a young age, Dix had a talent for art and was sent to school to become a wall decoration painter after being influenced by his cousin. However, with his ability, he was able to self-teach himself to paint canvas. During the World War, he enlisted himself and experienced life-death situations that had a significant influence on his arts in the later years. One of his famous art works is “Der Krieg” was genuinely horrifying as death was seen everywhere in his painting. Soldiers are marching toward war on a bloody cloudy day and many lives were lost during this war. Those who were lucky to stay alive now have to suffer the physical and psychological effects of war. According to Jones (2014) “Der Krieg, the series of prints Otto Dix published in 1924, is a terrifying vision of the apocalypse that actually happened on Europe’s soil 100 years ago – and proves that it was only German artists who saw the first world war clearly.”

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