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Kate Bryan introduces Portraying a Nation: Germany 1919–1933
See intimate portraits of ordinary people during Germany’s interwar years, a period of economic and political upheaval.
Portraying a Nation: Germany 1919–1933 presents the real faces of Weimar Germany told through the eyes of painter Otto Dix (1891–1969) and photographer August Sander (1876–1964). From the flourishing cabaret culture to intense poverty and civilian rebellions, both artists reflect on the radical extremes experienced in Germany during this time.
Featuring more than 300 paintings, drawings, prints and photographs, Portraying a Nation shows Dix’s harshly realist depictions of German society and brutality of war, alongside Sander’s best-known series, People of the Twentieth Century, his attempt to document the German people. Through painting and photography, these works form a pivotal point in the country’s history, as it introduced democratic rule for first time.
Otto Dix, Self-Portrait with Easel 1926 © DACS 2017. Leopold-Hoesch-Museum & Papiermuseum Düren. Photo: Peter Hinschläger.
August Sander, Secretary at West German Radio in Cologne 1931, printed 1992 © Die Photographische Sammlung / SK Stiftung Kultur – August Sander Archiv, Cologne / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn and DACS, London 2017
August Sander, Beggar 1926, printed 1990 © Die Photographische Sammlung / SK Stiftung Kultur – August Sander Archiv, Cologne / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn and DACS, London 2017
August Sander, Nun 1921, printed 1990 © Die Photographische Sammlung / SK Stiftung Kultur – August Sander Archiv, Cologne / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn and DACS, London 2017
August Sander, The Painter Otto Dix and his Wife Martha 1925-6, printed 1991 © Die Photographische Sammlung / SK Stiftung Kultur – August Sander Archiv, Cologne / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn and DACS, London 2017
August Sander, Police Officer 1925, printed 1990 © Die Photographische Sammlung / SK Stiftung Kultur – August Sander Archiv, Cologne / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn and DACS, London 2017
Otto Dix, Assault Troops Advance under Gas 1924 © DACS 2017. Image: Otto Dix Stiftung
August Sander, Turkish Mousetrap Salesman 1924-30, printed 1990 © Die Photographische Sammlung / SK Stiftung Kultur – August Sander Archiv, Cologne / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn and DACS, London 2017
Please be aware that this exhibition contains some graphic imagery that may not be suitable for all our visitors.
![August Sander, Bohemians [Willi Bongard, Gottfried Brockmann] 1922-5, printed 1990](https://media.tate.org.uk/aztate-prd-ew-dg-wgtail-st1-ctr-data/images/august_sander_bohemians_willi_bongard_gottfrie.width-420_ZvcDM6e.jpg)