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Art Thu Aug 11 2011
At the Art Institute, Go for the WWII Posters, Stay for the WWI Posters
You've seen the downtown advertising for the Art Institute's new exhibit, "Windows on the War," which focuses on the Soviet TASS News Agency's World War II posters, a call to arms for the Soviet citizenry against Nazi Germany. Thrilled by the prospect of such an exhibit, marrying the allure of popular culture, modern art, and propoganda, I went to the museum and headed eagerly for the exhibition hall. But I didn't make it to World War II.
I was distracted by World War I.
"Belligerent Encounters: Graphic Chronicles of War and Revolution, 1500-1945" contains works that predate WWI by centuries, like depictions of war by Goya and Dürer, but the majority of the exhibit focuses on war-related art from the early 20th century. Posters calling men to enlist or entreating the public to help with the war effort visually dominate the hall with bold colors and exclamatory statements. Side rooms contain series of lithographs by Max Beckmann and etchings by Otto Dix, both more graphically subtle, but more thematically in-your-face.
"Belligerent Encounters" is an ingenious complement to "Windows on the War," higlighting the general onus of war through art, and showcasing the dynamic war posters of an earlier era in a different part of the world than the TASS posters represent. While the smaller exhibit doesn't have the elaborate display or deep focus of the main-event TASS presentation in the larger Regenstein Hall, it's definitely worth a visit next time you're at the Art Institute.