2020 IB Extended Essays

12

unrecognisable due to severe damage. On the right section of the triptych, two legs littered with bullet wounds can be seen sticking out of the ground. It is evident that some of the wounds were inflicted after the man had died due to how some bullet wounds do not have drips of blood surrounding it. This effectively portrays the brutality of war, there is no mercy, not even for the ones that have already passed. The corpse hanging off the tree most likely symbolises the death that hung heavy on the soldiers on the battlefield and returning to the theme of mercy. Any soldier could die at any moment, it felt like it was only a matter of time when death caught up. The man wearing cloth, a gas mask and helmet represents the use of biochemical warfare, but the mask could also be used to avoid the stench of dead corpses. The accumulation of these overwhelming elements of the triptych conveys warfare and prompts the viewer to question whether or not anything would ever outweigh all of this violence and destruction. Censorship of Artistic Depictions of War After the completion of “The Trench”, it was exhibited around Europe where it received as much praise as controversy. After four years of its display in multiple galleries, the painting was purchased for the Dresden state collection in 1928, however, it was never displayed. It is suspected that this was an attempt to keep the piece away from the public eye. After Hitler came to power in 1933, Dix lost his occupation as an art professor at the Dresden Academy and was forbidden to exhibit any of his work. 260 of Dix’s pieces were taken from public display and “The Trench”, along with some of his other pieces, were selected to be included in the Entartete Kunst exhibition for five years. “The Trench” became the centrepiece of every exhibition on the tour around Germany and was illustrated on the advertisements and guides of the exhibition (Lopez, 2011). Beneath “The Trench”’s