The Wreckers (Les Démolisseurs)

Paul Signac French

Not on view

This lithograph, executed in the tonal style of Signac’s early drawings and reminiscent of his friend Georges Seurat’s graphic approach, represents the most explicit political statement made by the artist in his oeuvre. Published by Jean Grave, editor of the anarchist journal Les Temps nouveaux, the symbolism of the print is overt: the worker demolishes the capitalist state with a pickax and the rising sun announces the dawn of a new order. The medium of lithography suited the message though Signac later made a painting based on the print (Musée d’Orsay).

The Wreckers (Les Démolisseurs), Paul Signac (French, Paris 1863–1935 Paris), Lithograph; second state of four

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