Überfall einer Schleichpatrouille (Surprise Attack of a Reconnoitering Patrol), plate 44 from Der Krieg (The War)

Francisco Goya’s Disasters of War prints (1810-20) loomed large in Otto Dix’s imagination as he embarked on his own war series. Goya’s decision to depict small episodes rather than one monumental battle scene effectively captured the many horrors of war, and proved a fruitful model for Dix. The two series also have much in common aesthetically, utilizing the expressive power of the etched line and the haunting quality of aquatint.