Looking Backward, from Puck n.d.

Joseph Keppler created this chromolithograph, entitled 'Looking Backward' for Puck magazine. The cartoon depicts wealthy industrialists recoiling from an immigrant. Puck was the first successful humor magazine in the United States, and it often focused on political issues, such as immigration. This cartoon responds to growing anti-immigrant sentiment at the end of the 19th century. The industrialists are well-dressed, and they are casting shadows of impoverished Europeans. This visual code references the ways that wealthy industrialists often demonized immigrants, while at the same time, the industrialists had often been immigrants themselves. The magazine was published in both English and German, and it reflects the social and political tensions of the time. To understand this moment better, we can read primary sources, such as articles and political pamphlets. Through such sources, we come to appreciate how art is contingent on social and institutional contexts.