De Notenkraker, 20 juli 1907 / De wegsmeltende vrijzinnig-demokratie Possibly 1907

Albert Hahn made this print, titled 'The Melting Liberal Democracy', for the satirical magazine 'De Notenkraker' in 1907. I imagine Hahn bent over the lithographic stone, carefully rendering the melting snowman and the beaming sun. What’s so striking is how he uses the stark contrast between the melting snowman of liberal democracy and the radiant sun of social democracy to convey the political climate of the time. You can almost feel the snowman’s despair as he melts away into nothingness, leaving behind only a hat and sash. The stark lines and shading emphasize the inevitable triumph of social democracy. It reminds me of Daumier, in the way he used caricature to comment on the political landscape. Hahn’s work captures the zeitgeist of a changing society. It's all about artists engaging with the world around them, using their creativity to provoke thought and maybe even inspire change.