The Jeweller Karl Krall -- Otto Dix -- 1923 -- Oil on canvas -- Kunst und Museumsverien im Von der Heydt-Museum, Wuppertal.

According to the 2006 exhibition catalogue "Glitter and Doom: German Portraits from the 1920s", Krall was not only, as a chamber music amateur, musical, but was also "musical", to use the term used in 1920s British English to describe gay men.

The catalogue entry suggests that beneath Krall's jacket, "there must be a corset that is much too tight. Severe discomfort makes the blood rush to Krall's face, turning it purple-red with bluish accents. Veins on his forehead seem ready to pop."

As with so many of the other portraits, I find myself fascinated by this picture. Is Dix's depiction of the hour glass figured jeweller a frank depiction of Krall's style in foundation garments, or does it function as the painter's possibly contemptuous verdict on male homosexuality?

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