THE COLLECTION
Max Pechstein (German, 1881–1955)
Poster for periodical An die Laterne (To the Lamp Post)
- Date:
- 1919
- Medium:
- Lithograph
- Dimensions:
- 28 3/8 x 37 5/16" (72 x 94.7 cm)
- Paper:
- Beige, smooth, wove.
- Publisher:
- Werbedienst der deutschen Republik, Berlin
- Printer:
- Nauck & Hartmann, Berlin
- Credit Line:
- Gift of The Lauder Foundation, Leonard and Evelyn Lauder Fund
- Copyright:
- © 2016 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn
- Reference:
- Krüger L361.
- MoMA Number:
- 339.1984
- Themes:
- Death, Postwar Politics
- Techniques:
- Lithography
German Expressionism: The Graphic Impulse
March 27–July 11, 2011
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.