Flanders Field

http://mearsheimer.uchicago.edu/images/otto-dix-flanders.jpg

This piece of artwork is called "Flanders" by Otto Dix. Again I just can't get over his work, he really has captured a terrifying moment in his life and has shared it with the world. This artwork stuck out to me because I have to actually look to find the people in it, they fade in with the ground so well. One thing I've been racking my brain about with this piece is whether or not the men are dead or alive. I can see them being dead because they fade in with the ground, and with trench warfare one really did blend into the ground when they died. I think they are alive though because they appear to be huddling around each other for safety, warmth, or maybe the comfort of knowing that there are others going through the same thing.It looks like dawn might be breaking in the background, which is a lightness overcoming the dark. Maybe Otto Dix is seeing a hopeful image in this? One thing that this artwork reminded me of was a poem called "In Flanders Fields" by John McCrae.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

John McCrae wrote this poem about WWI. He was inspired to write it because, like Otto Dix, he served in the war and his friend was killed in the war. This poem is meant to represent the battle fields that became graveyards. I associate this with the artwork by Otto Dix, not just because they share a similar title, but because they both represent the same thing; the horrors of war.

Poem Credit: http://www.english.emory.edu/LostPoets/McCrae.html