In Belgium

Louis RaemaekersWW-1916-118669

1916·Color lithograph on paper·99.5 × 61.2 cm (39 3/16 × 24 1/8 in.)

<p>Louis Raemaekers was a Dutch artist who worked for the British during World War I, making illustrations prompted by the secret British War Propaganda Bureau. The Propaganda Bureau was the first official British government body to produce images supporting the British cause, and the government formed it after learning that Germany had established a similar agency. When the Germans broke the 1839 Treaty of London protecting Belgium by attacking the neutral country in 1914, the British latched onto this action and reports of atrocities (some fictitious) as a leitmotif of wartime propaganda.</p>

Catalogue

Year: 1916
Medium: Color lithograph on paper
Dimensions: 99.5 × 61.2 cm (39 3/16 × 24 1/8 in.)
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Artist: Louis Raemaekers

Artist

Louis Raemaekers

Printmaking

Louis Raemaekers was a Dutch graphic artist and printmaker known for incisive political and social commentary delivered through drawing and lithography. Active during the early twentieth century, his work addressed war, injustice, and public morality with a sharp, often caricatural line. Raemaekers employed satire as a formal strategy rather than decoration, creating images that functioned as visual argument. His prints circulated widely in European and American publications, establishing him as one of the period's most prominent illustrative voices.

Netherlands

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