Trench was considered caused bad reputation for the Weimar Republic because of its gruesomeness and offensiveness. Another aspects that made this works controversial is because the painting lacked any heroic elements and seems disrespectful towards the military’s reputation (Gutbrod and Dix 2010). Kolnische Volkszeitung predicted that this works will always find many enemies since it represented the most gruesome picture ever painted (Crockett 1992). A lot of media criticized this works because they thought that it did not belong for public collection. In Rhineland’s most popular daily paper, Walter Schmits in his column of drastic antiwar propaganda argued Trench depicted the worst representation of war. While the political discourse of Rhineland Palatinate at that time was under the rigid occupation of the French, who supported an independent Rhineland nation. He regret the purchase of this painting seeing that
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Although there were a lot of who against this works, there were also some influential artist that supported Trench in positive manner such as Lovis Corinth. Besides that, Mac Liebermann also gave a positive response towards the works by wrote an open letter asking Trench to be displayed in the exhibition in Prussian Academy of Arts in 1924, Berlin (Gutbrod and Dix 2010). This work succeed to be exhibited in Berlin and went well for a period of time until Julius Meier-Graefe, one of the first important supporters of modern art in Germany, publish a critics towards Dix’s work. He published a critics that the display of The Trench was a “public nuisance” and asked to be removed it through personal letter. As it is owned not by German country and was displayed for public, this painting has “becomes a German cultural documents”. Through this barbaric manner portrayal of war, it damaged the image of German. Thus, the works supposed to be not displayed by public, moreover, not owned by German
Although there were a lot of who against this works, there were also some influential artist that supported Trench in positive manner such as Lovis Corinth. Besides that, Mac Liebermann also gave a positive response towards the works by wrote an open letter asking Trench to be displayed in the exhibition in Prussian Academy of Arts in 1924, Berlin (Gutbrod and Dix 2010). This work succeed to be exhibited in Berlin and went well for a period of time until Julius Meier-Graefe, one of the first important supporters of modern art in Germany, publish a critics towards Dix’s work. He published a critics that the display of The Trench was a “public nuisance” and asked to be removed it through personal letter. As it is owned not by German country and was displayed for public, this painting has “becomes a German cultural documents”. Through this barbaric manner portrayal of war, it damaged the image of German. Thus, the works supposed to be not displayed by public, moreover, not owned by German