Little Girl

In the early 1920s, Otto Dix determined to make a name for himself. Saying, “I will either become notorious or famous, ” he challenged artistic conventions, painting subjects considered ugly or taboo in a realistic manner that became known as the Neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity). Here, a young naked girl is depicted in an uncomfortably close and realistic manner, her blue veins recorded with unsettling accuracy. Yet the portrayal is matter-of-fact rather than provocative; she has an innocence devoid of shame about her natural state.