1915

Description

In this four-color lithograph, sculpted and depersonalized machinelike bodies charge forward with unfettered vigor. The blunt, angular rendering of their hands make their flesh appear solid and inviolable, while their collective formation mimics the force and symmetry of an engine. The effacement of these soldiers’ features renders their faces impenetrable and their assault terrifying. Here, even while not depicting the actual mechanisms of modern warfare, Albin Egger-Lienz poignantly evoked the brutal dehumanization of the first industrialized war in history.

1915

Albin Egger-Lienz

1915

Accession Number

80831

Medium

Color lithograph on ivory laid paper

Dimensions

Image: 60.1 × 78.3 cm (23 11/16 × 30 7/8 in.); Sheet: 72.3 × 90.3 cm (28 1/2 × 35 9/16 in.)

Classification

lithograph

Museum

The Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago, United States

Credit Line

The Art Institute of Chicago