Midterm Essay. Simplicissimus Poster
Attend one exhibition from the Cooper Hewitt, Brooklyn Museum, Whitney Museum of Mexican Art or New Exhibitions Museum, and choose one piece of design to trace back through history for your midterm paper. The essay should be 1500 words long, and include brief biographical information about the designer, a visual description of the piece you’ve chosen to research, and an argument on how this piece fits in the history of graphic design. Think in both directions of time: what led to this piece being made (influences) and what does this piece lead to later in the future (impact).
You must do research on this piece from any museum materials (wall captions, exhibition catalog essays by curators, etc.) you encounter on your visit and supplement with additional reading at the New York Public Library and online. You must cite at least one book you referred to for your essay. This is a longer form version of your weekly comparison assignments. Dig in and dig deep. Learn and present the lineage and effect of the piece you choose. Use these two essays on design pieces as an example.
Simplicissimus Poster
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Simplicissimus Poster
After visiting Brooklyn Museum, New York for an exhibition, I came across an interesting object, which is Simplicissimus Poster by Thomas Theodor Heine. Leipzig in Germany was the birthplace of Heine in 1867. He was an illustrator and painter who identified himself as a caricaturist when he was young. As such, he joined Kunstakademie Dusseldorf to study art. Later, Heine enrolled at the Fine Arts Academy in Munich. As a successful illustrator, he was employed by a satirical magazine of Munich called Simplicissimus in 1896. The two primary things that landed him a job were his prowess in graphic qualities, such as Japanese woodcuts and Aubrey Beardsley, and the Jugendstil idiom. Heine critiqued the monarchy and social orders, which made him popular. In 1898, the individual was imprisoned for six months due to his criticism against the corrupt government operations. After serving his jail term, he started a new career as an illustrator of books. In 1933, he migrated to Prague and later to Oslo in 1938. From 1942-1948 before his death, Heine resided in Stockholm (All-art.org, n.d.). The paper focuses on how the Simplicissimus Poster fits in the history of graphic design, its influences, and its impact on society.
Simplicissimus Poster comprises a red bulldog that is staring menacingly with its stone-cold white eyes. The animal has sharp and spiky teeth that are ready to attack and tear any unsuspecting government buffoons, nitwits, and fools (Heine, n.d.). As discussed in Heine’s biography, the individual was well-known for critiquing the state, and he was even jailed at some point in his life. The red bulldog has a broken chain hanging from its neck. In other words, it is free after being chained for an extended period, and most probably, it will attack whoever was taming it. The bulldog is known to be the most unyielding animal. Heine makes it clear that the dog was born of a brush and ink and not of blood and flesh. Besides, the animal is the embodiment of the anger that the nation had on its leaders and the corrupt system. Heine came up with this graphic symbol of Simplicissimus, which showed the satirical nature of the magazine. Simplicissimus was unrepentantly and antibourgeois, which rejected modernization and materialism (Heine, n.d.). The bulldog symbolized common people who the magazine portrayed as cartoons and feisty opponents of the poor government leadership and the mismanagement of resources. Although Heine exaggerated the situation, the authorities tried to tame his bulldog through censorship and arrests. Even after police officers confiscated the poster, many people were interested in reading the magazine, and it was clear that the bulldog would not be chained for a long time before it sets itself free. As a result, the red bulldog was an illustration of how individuals were tired by their government due to its corrupt ways of doing things.
Graphic design entails the art of developing visuals, which can be done on a paper, pottery, canvas, or a stone. Specifically, it started many years ago and continues to evolve, particularly in the digital era where individ...
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