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Catalogue information
LastDodo number
6850853
Area
Drawings / paintings
Title
Onder den voet gelopen....
Art object
Art Movement / style
Genre
Material
Technique used
Colouring
Dimensions
44 x 32 cm
Series / hero
Collection / set
Number
Addition to number
Year
1939
Country
Language
Details
(Trampled underfoot..) Original political cartoon on paper in pen/brush and ink, 1939, published in De Indische Post, shows Hitler and Stalin trampling all over a figure on the ground representing Poland, while the caption in the lower border simply states: ‘Finis Poloniae’ (the end of Poland). On 23 August 1939 the neutrality pact (the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, also known as the Nazi-Soviet Pact or the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact) between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union was signed in Moscow. In addition to clauses on non-aggression, the treaty included a secret protocol that divided the territory of Poland and other countries into German and Soviet spheres of influence, anticipating "territorial and political rearrangements" of these countries. Nothing now stood in the way of Hitler’s plans and at the beginning of September German armies invaded Poland, starting WW2 in Europe. The Soviets also invaded Poland from the west on September 17, and not long afterwards ‘finis Poloniae’ was a fact. Paper size 44 x 32 cm, image size 40 x 28 cm, signed lower right with captions in pencil in upper and lower borders. Also written in pencil on verso is the request: ‘After use please return to Geo van Dam, Leidscheweg 184, Voorschoten’. Mertens was a strong draughts player, as was van Dam, and the two were clearly known to each other. The cartoon has been folded into four at some point, and the paper displays some wrinkling and folding, particularly on the right hand side, otherwise in good condition.