12018-05-22T14:53:45+00:00Daphne Schigiel5c0be29ca2aaf6b75adee8a8f25a50eae8bf343c21plain2018-05-22T14:53:45+00:00Daphne Schigiel5c0be29ca2aaf6b75adee8a8f25a50eae8bf343cOtto Dix’s "To Beauty" shows how people directed critiques of greed in Berlin towards distinctly American subjects. Throughout the Weimar era, Germans often associated Americanism and greed with each other. Some interpreted America to represent efficient business tactics, technological innovation, and the potential consequences of American capitalism and the material products which it delivered. (Nolan, 1994) The American elements in this painting are inescapable, with the presence of the African-American drummer, alongside the indigenous American image on the drum set. At the time, Black jazz musicians in German cabaret clubs were common, though the presence of the Native American face and headdress is quite peculiar and serves to “Americanize” the entire painting. (Wipplinger, 2017) It is important to note that all the painting’s elements take place in a decadent cabaret club, which exhibits the greed of Germans seeking to indulge themselves on music, drugs, and alcohol. And yet, Dix pointedly centers the stern, straight-faced businessman, rather than the cabaret itself. This businessman avoids direct eye contact with the viewer, his head facing sideways but his eyes shifted forward, implying suspicious activity and feeding into the idea of the businessman as a shady, greedy figure. Yet in this way, Dix is pulling from one common theme in the Weimar vision of America, in which Germans display an awe-like reverence for the way Americans conduct business: efficiently, tonelessly, and with little humanity. Instead, the focus on the the greedy businessman in this painting almost appears in a respectful light, given the dehumanized manner in which other people are pictured.
