Dugout, from War

World War I dragged on for four years, making the trenches of the front line a second home for the soldiers. In this depiction, the ragtag soldiers (including Otto Dix, shown in profile as the cut-off figure in the middle) seem to be enjoying a moment away from the gassing and bombs. Still, darker sides of this life are illustrated in the stacked bunks behind the card players, an image that confuses the act of sleeping underground with death and coffins. The artist would repeat this motif in the bottom panel of his monumental painting War Triptych (1929–32).