Otto Dix - Portrait of Dr. Heinrich Stadelmann During my trip to the Art Gallery of Ontario, I discovered that there was one painting that definitely stood out and made me made a unique impression, it was certainly a different painting from the rest of the gallery. When my eyes met those of Otto Dix's portrait of Doctor Heinrich, I was deeply intrigued and found myself drawn to the work and to examine it the longest of all the options of paintings I saw at the AGO.Dix was a painter and printmaker who created the portrait “Dr. Heinrich Stadelmann” in 1922. The plaque next to the painting explains how Dix painted this piece in the period immediately following the First World War. It was one of the crucial periods in history that caused the “Roaring Twenties”. It was at the same time a time of joyful and unbridled celebration, but it was also marked by the violence, poverty and corruption generated by the disastrous political and economic situation, as is very evident in this painting. Otto Dix must have been motivated by this uglier side of the situation at the time and approached this piece in a gritty and unapologetic manner. Dix chose to use oil paints on canvas when approaching this piece, which allowed him to explore a variety of techniques particularly evident in the expression, style, color palette, contrast and manipulated textures throughout the painting of Dr. Heinrich Stadelman. In the portrait Dix depicts a rather unhappy looking old man. Dix depicts Dr. Heinrich Stadelman's body language and facial expression in an interesting and distinct way. He greatly manipulates the painting in many ways to make it look so captivating. In the portrait, you could read the emotions on Dr. Heinrich Stadelmann's face... in the center of the paper... g that time period was nothing like that, making a painting like this was extremely out of the ordinary. It amazes me that many decades after its creation it still attracts people with intensity and curiosity, as it probably did when people saw the work in 1922. It intrigues me how the non-traditional essence of the work has remained so timeless, which was the essence why it struck me among the many others I saw in the gallery. This painting certainly displays many unique and eye-catching techniques in numerous ways for numerous reasons including expression, color palette, and textures. Realizing this, I feel that Otto Dix definitely nailed this piece, this portrait of Dr. Heinrich Stadelmann along with his other non-traditional works must have been very eye-opening at the time, which undoubtedly makes him one of the artists of great inspiration of his period. time.