Catalogue information

LastDodo number
6037941
Area
Drawings / paintings
Title
World’s grown deaf
Art object
Art Movement / style
Technique used
Colouring
Dimensions
47.5 x 38 cm
Series / hero
Collection / set
Number
Addition to number
Year
1919
Language
Details
Original editorial cartoon on paper in ink and crayon for the Newark (New Jersey) Evening News, 1919, shows a semi-monstrous figure with blood on its hands, representing Germany, being given a good spanking for the ‘Hun idea’ (attempt to dominate Europe by force of arms) by a figure representing the (old) world. Germany is screaming for ‘compromise!’, but their appeals fall on deaf ears. At the Versailles Conference held in 1919 following the end of World War One, the victorious Allied powers imposed a punitive treaty on Germany, which had to admit to starting the war in 1914. They lost territory and colonies and had to pay large amounts in reparations to the victorious powers. The Germans always claimed that the treaty was much too harsh and therefore made little effort to fulfil the terms in the years that followed. It could however be argued that the final treaty, though severe, was very much a compromise. The initial demands made by France in particular were for instance much more punitive in respect of territorial loss and financial compensation than the final terms of the treaty. Paper size 47.5 x 38 cm (18.5 x 15 inch), image size 45 x 35 cm, signed lower left, caption in ink in upper border. Minor staining, otherwise in very good condition.