About This Artwork

August Sander
German, 1876–1964

The Painter Otto Dix and His Wife, Martha, 1925/26

Gelatin silver print, printed by August Sander at the end of his career
24.7 x 21.7 cm (9 3/4 x 8 1/2 in.)
Acquired through a grant from the Lloyd A. Fry Foundation, 1996.91

The portraits of August Sander are notable for their directness and freedom from the stiff decorum common to studio portraiture of his day. After working for many years as an itinerant photographer, Sander developed a quasi-scientific project in the 1920s to catalogue representatives of German society. Influenced by the work of painters such as Otto Dix, his subject here, this venture led Sander to reassess his earlier portraits and broaden the scope of his portraiture. Launching his project in 1927, Sander described his aim “to see things as they are and not as they should or might be . . . to tell the truth about our age and people.” Dix, who had recently published The War, a portfolio of gruesome etchings, similarly aspired to a detached recording of momentous events: “I . . . had to see how someone next to me suddenly fell and was gone, the bullet hitting him right in the middle.”

Exhibition, Publication and Ownership Histories

Exhibition History

AIC, "Of National Interest: Photographs from the Collection," September 13, 2008–January 11, 2009. (Katherine A. Bussard and Gregory Harris)

AIC, "Photography on Display: Modern Treasures," May 9–September 13, 2009.

Publication History

"Menschen des 20. Jahrhunderts: Portraitphotographien 1892 - 1952." August Sander ; herausgegeben von Gunther Sander ; Text von Ulrich Keller. München: Shirmer/Mosel. 1980. pl. 150.

"Menschen des 20. Jahrhunderts: III Die Frau." August Sander; Herausgegeben von Die Photographische Sammlung/SK Stiftung Kultur. München: Shirmer/Mosel. 2002. pg. 43 (other print of this image)

Makela, Maria. 2002. “‘A Clear and Simple Style’: Tradition and Typology in New Objectivity.” Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies, vol. 28. no. 1. p. 38-51. fig. 1.

Sander, Gunther. 1971. "August Sander: Men Without Masks. Faces of Germany 1910-1938." New York Graphic Society Ltd. Greenwich, Connecticut/Verlag C.J. Bucher, Lucerne and Frankfurt/M. n.p. (other print of this image)

Sander, Gunther. 1986. "August Sander: Citizens of the Twentieth Century: Portrait Photographs. 1892-1952." The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts. p. 150. (other print of this image)

Sander, August. 1973. "Men Without Masks: Faces of Germany, 1910-1938." With an introduction by Gunther Sander and foreword by Golo Mann. Translated from the German by Maureen Oberli-Turner. Greenwich, Connecticut: New York Graphic Society. n.p.