Untitled 1943

This watercolor was made by the collective of Soviet artists known as the Kukryniksy, active from around 1924 to 1957. The Kukryniksy were known for their caricatures which could be made in multiples, speaking to a mass audience. Here, they have used simple, easily-accessible materials like watercolor and paper to great effect, rendering the figure of a Nazi officer seemingly gasping for air. The washes of color are quickly applied, giving the image a spontaneous, almost journalistic quality. The medium of watercolor lends itself to satire, as the very process of dilution mirrors the debasement of the Nazi figure, a cruel man brought low by the force of history. In focusing on the deceptive transparency of watercolor, we are better able to understand the artists' message, which relies on easily accessible materials, to be disseminated to a mass audience, and drive home a political point.