Are Their Faces Red 

• 1951 
• Milians, Max P. 
• Drawing 
• Historical item 

5625871

Drawings / paintings

Are Their Faces Red

36 x 29 cm

1951

Original editorial cartoon on card in pen, ink and crayon, 1951, shows the ‘Soviets at War’ using fellow travellers within the United States, ‘Labor Red’, who is being accused of being responsible for ‘defence obstruction’ and a ‘Pink’ claiming that ‘this is an imperialistic war’ (pinko and pinky were widely used during the Cold War to label individuals, not necessarily card-carrying members of the Communist Party, accused of supporting the Soviet Union, and here opposing American involvement in the Korean War). Anti-Communism had been growing among Americans since the end of WW2 and this sentiment was being fanned by the House Committee on Un-American Activities led by Senator Joseph McCarthy. The faces of these individuals are presumably red (with embarrassment) because of Soviet support for North Korea against US troops fighting in defence of South Korea. Card size 36 x 29 cm (14 x 11.5 inch), image size 32.5 x 26 cm, caption in pencil in upper border, signed lower left with nine zeros as underline. Stain in top right border, otherwise in very good condition. Verso: Title unclear, original editorial cartoon on card in pen, ink and crayon, 1951, shows an ‘average American youth’ being seduced away from his ‘mother’, representing ‘American ideals’, by Soviet leader Stalin with his ‘poisonous ideologies’ wrapped up as an attractive gift. This refers to the, mainly unsuccessful, attempts by the Soviet Union to gain followers in the US for their socialist project. Image size 31 x 25 cm, (illegible) caption in pencil in upper border, signed lower right with nine zeros as underline. Damage and loss around the whole border, otherwise in good condition.