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Tate Liverpool Exhibition

Portraying a Nation: Germany 1919–1933

23 June – 15 October 2017

Free for Members

Otto Dix, Reclining Woman on a Leopard Skin 1927 © DACS 2017. Collection of the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University. Gift of Samuel A. Berger; 55.031. 

Bringing together two significant artists, Otto Dix and August Sander, experience the radical extremes of what is now an important period in history

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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.

  • Download a Weimar Republic timeline
  • Download a Liverpool timeline
  • Download the Portraying a Nation Teacher’s Pack
A painted plaster lobster in orange, yellow and red lies along the handset cradle of a black vintage rotary-dial telephone; a gold label on the base reads 'Bell Telephone MFG. COMPANY'

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Please be aware that this exhibition contains some graphic imagery that may not be suitable for all our visitors.

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Dates

23 June – 15 October 2017

Supported by

Artist Rooms

Ferens Art Gallery

Creative Scotland old

Embassy of the Federal Republic Germany London

German Historical Institute London

Media partners

*****
The Guardian
*****

This is an exhibition with an atmosphere that will stay with you for days

The Telegraph
*****

Superb show

The Observer

An excellent event

The Sunday Times

Stunningly curated

BBC Radio 4 Saturday Review

We recommend

read

Five things to know: Otto Dix

We look at five top things to know about one of the great realist painters of the twentieth century

read

Five things to know: August Sander

Explore five top things to know about one of the most significant and influential photographers of the twentieth century

listen

The sound of Weimar Germany

Be transported back in time to the scene of Portraying a Nation through this Weimar Republic playlist

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