Artist: Anonymous
Condition: B+ *
Dimensions: 28.7 x 39.8 in. / 73 x 101 cm.
Circa: 1945
Linen Backed
* See Condition Grading section for further details
The poster was originally folded and professional touch-up has been applied to address surface paper loss along the fold lines and at the cross folds; some surface toning/smudges; some surface scratches/abrasions; some ink offsetting that either occurred during the printing process or while the poster was folded for decades; despite its defects, this poster should display very nicely once framed.
A primary document of WWII American propaganda, and an uncomfortable one. The racial slur in the headline and the dehumanizing tone are characteristic of official U.S. government messaging toward Japan in the early war years; messaging that both reflected and reinforced the climate that produced Japanese American internment. The graphic design is bold and effective: a Japanese soldier emerging from the rising sun symbol against a stark yellow ground.
Collectors and institutions acquire pieces like this as historical documents rather than objects of admiration. They are important primary sources for understanding the propaganda machinery of the Second World War and the racism embedded in it. Offered here in that spirit.