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Catalogue information
LastDodo number
5632967
Area
Drawings / paintings
Title
Hiss-Chambers Case
Artist
Art object
Art Movement / style
Genre
Material
Technique used
Colouring
Dimensions
36 x 29 cm
Series / hero
Collection / set
Number
Addition to number
Year
1948
Country
Language
Details
Original editorial cartoon on card in pen, ink and crayon, 1948, syndicated to a number of newspapers, shows ‘J(ohn) Q. Public’ opening the lid on the ‘Hiss-Chambers case’ and seeing/smelling something very unpleasant. On August 3, 1948 Whittaker Chambers, Time magazine editor and former Communist Party USA member, testified under subpoena before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) that former State Department and United Nations official Alger Hiss had secretly been member of the Communist Party while in federal service. Called before HUAC, Hiss categorically denied the charge and eventually instituted a libel lawsuit against Chambers. During the course of the investigation Chambers produced, among other documents, five rolls of 35 mm film, two of which contained State Department documents which he claimed to have received from Hiss. Chambers had hidden the film in a hollowed-out pumpkin on his Maryland farm, and they became known as the ‘pumpkin papers’. Because of the statute of limitations Hiss could not be charged with espionage, but he was charged with perjury, lying under oath, and sentenced to five years imprisonment. Whether or not he was part of ‘US Communist spy operations’ is still a matter of conjecture today. Card size 36 x 29 cm (14 x 11.5 inch), image size 31 x 26 cm, signed lower right with nine zeros as underline. In very good condition.
