Volk van Nederland c. 1947

This is a broadside entitled, 'Volk van Nederland,' printed sometime during World War II. There is a stark opposition between the dark blacks of the bold text and the grayish off-white of the paper. The blocky headline feels urgent, like a call to action. Looking closer, you can see the texture of the paper and the slight inconsistencies in the ink, giving it a raw, immediate feel. The central image showing a broken flag feels like a punch to the gut. The way the image is cropped and reproduced only adds to the feeling of anger and urgency. The whole thing feels like a scream from the past. You know, it reminds me a bit of Hannah Höch's photomontages, how she used collage to create this fractured sense of reality. There's something about art that can hold all these conflicting ideas, all this ambiguity, and still be so incredibly powerful.