Signs of the Times IV: Pax Vobiscum (Symbole der Zeit IV: Pax Vobiscum) (plate, folio 11 verso) from the periodical Der Bildermann, vol. 1, no. 2 (Jun 1916)
Max Slevogt
German, 1868–1932
1916
This 1916 lithograph uses a grotesque, oversized rocking horse and caricatured figures to satirize the hollow assurances of “Pax Vobiscum,” turning a print into a pointed political critique.
What hits you first are the vigorous, scratchy black strokes and smeared ink that make the horse seem to rock violently while the figures’ exaggerated faces leer and plead against a spare white field.
Printed in a wartime periodical, the work shows how early twentieth‑century lithography and caricature brought expressionist energy to mass media to expose political and religious hypocrisy.
Medium
Lithograph
Dimensions
composition (irreg.): 8 3/8 x 11" (21.2 x 28 cm); page: 14 x 11" (35.5 x 28 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of Mrs. Bertha M. Slattery
Accession
330.1952.20
Palette
Exhibitions
