The Alsace

L’Alsace… (original French title) Aquatint printed in blue ink, with a touch of red in the cockade on simili-Japan paper, April 1916. One of 8 impressions in the first state. It is unclear whether the artist actually reworked the plate in subsequent states. No edition has been located to date. Alsace personified as a woman chained to a tree is being guarded by a German soldier whose outstretched arms under a cape make him look like a giant bat in the background. She is defiantly holding up the Cocarde de France (Cockade of France) in her outstretched hand, seemingly ready to charge the enemy. The commentary reads: "L’Alsace nous est plus attaché qu’à vous… (journaux allemands)" (Alsace is tied to us more than to you – German newspapers). That the artist managed to create such a fine work of art in the middle of war is a bit of a miracle. Signed, annotated, and numbered in pencil.