What is 'Modern', Anyhow? 1957

This is a drawing by Herbert Lawrence Block, likely made with graphite or charcoal on paper. It takes the form of a political cartoon, a medium with a long history that relies on quick production and dissemination in newspapers and pamphlets. The artist has adopted the guise of curating a museum exhibition, titled “Exhibition of Modern Republicanism,” to comment on the conservative politics in the US. The cartoon adopts some of the tropes of modernist fine art: the flat graphic style of the pictures on the wall, the biomorphic sculpture on a plinth. But Block also plays with very ancient forms of image making, evoking cave paintings or simple stone carving. These would have been seen as anything but modern in his time. These visual devices point to the work’s real subject: an anxiety that what seems "modern" may simply be a return to outdated ideas. By equating the Republican party with regressive artistic styles, Block satirizes their policies as backward and out of touch. The drawing reminds us that any definition of modernity is really a statement of value – and can easily become a weapon.