Pechstein made this poster to advertise a short-lived journal, An die Laterne (To the lamp post), which promoted the incumbent Social Democratic Party. Its image of clenched-fisted, flag-carrying protestors—probably Communists—marching by a man hanged from a lamppost was a warning against the mob violence and anarchy that threatened to destabilize the fledgling Weimar Republic. Pechstein was one of the most politically engaged artists of the early postwar period.
Gallery label from German Expressionism: The Graphic Impulse, March 27–July 11, 2011.