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Charles Dana Gibson's Femme Fatale
The portly gentleman is a caricatured portrayal of Kaiser William II, Emperor of Germany, in this imaginary tryst with a female friend labeled "War." He recoils at discovering his "lady fair" is the embodiment of Death, as she beckons him to approach in all her grotesque, bejeweled splendor. Not only did Gibson lead the Division of Pictorial Publicity from 1917–1918, for which he recruited the country's top illustrators to aid in building support for America's war effort, he also drew anti-German political cartoons for Life magazine. |