Abstract
The aim of this paper is to analyse and compare the visual representation and iconography in works depicting the enemy in Croatian visual arts during World War I. The article encompasses research on unpublished archival sources and contemporaneaous press. The works of renowned Croatian artists, who were enlisted or volunteered for frontline duty are analysed, as are the works of art presented to the Croatian general public through graphics, cartoons and caricatures in the then popular press. Comparison of war-themed images shows differences in the visualisation of the enemy. The generally accepted belief that the enemy was visually satanised and ridiculed actually only applies to caricatures and cartoons.
Highlights
All the belligerent countries in World War I deployed predesigned propaganda, whose messages were transmitted through all forms of media[2]
The works of renowned Croatian artists, who were enlisted or volunteered for frontline duty are analysed, as are the works of art presented to the Croatian general public through graphics, cartoons and caricatures in the popular press
At the same time, printed texts were supplemented with visual information through photographs, graphics, and drawings brought to the public by the Ilustrovani list, a weekly magazine that was published in Zagreb from January 1914 till December 1918
Summary
Renowned Croatian artists, sculptors, and painters realistically depicted battles and events from the fronts. At the moment of their defeat, enemy soldiers were shown in an unplanned retreat, chaos, even panic They were presented realistically, without demonisation or ridicule, which the artists accomplished by highlighting many details on their uniforms, equipment, and weaponry. The photographers took pictures of the enemy at the moment of their surrender or immediately afterwards These photographs were realistic, one could say more realistic than the works of artists, and often showed wounded enemy soldiers and the horrors of war. Caricatures and cartoons present the complete opposite of paintings, sculptures, and photographs. Their authors passionately and openly ridiculed the enemy and his failures. Certain caricatures and cartoons can be interpreted as general criticisms and ridicule of war and propaganda, often embellished, news
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