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Radical Prints Up Close and In-Depth

Click the Print to Go Closer

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Berkeley #40 Title: untitled Description: 61 x 91 cm ; black and red on white Image: Hitler holding a Nixon mask

Hitler as De Gaulle, 1968 From the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts-Décoratifs1

The image on the left, printed in 1970, was inspired by a similar poster featuring Hitler with a Charles De Gaulle mask, produced during the French student revolt of 1968 (shown right).²

The imitation is obvious, and despite the change in perspective and other small details, the similarities in intent are even more evident. Then as now, a comparison to Hitler was an ultimate symbol of moral revulsion. Looking specifically at the Berkeley print, we see a condemnation of America as a fascist state, divorced from its constitutional roots and morally bankrupt. On a subtler level, this reconfiguration casts anti-war protest as the true patriotic activity; the real enemy is not the 'reds' abroad but the fascists at home, claims the print.

Both American and French prints have a kind of austere gravity to them. The Paris poster is more realistic, weightier on the page, whereas the style of the Berkeley print is more linear and simplified.

In the Paris poster, De Gaulle's hand seems to reach out of the image, lending the print a sense of forceful life. But the harsh cropping of Nixon's hand and lower half leaves him floating, abstracted, and incomplete — deliberately two-dimensional, with an Aubrey Beardsley-like gloominess. One is made aware of the texture of the paper beneath the ink, and the sole spot of colour in the armband stands out like blood.

The Nixon Hitler seems filled not so much with fanatical conviction (as in the De Gaulle image) but with doubt, uncertainty, and concern. He is more reflective, troubled even, and less confrontational. Interestingly, Nixon's visage is the real force of malevolence in this print.