Wählt Sozialdemokratisch
Poster
1920 (made)
1920 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Biró modelled his Hero-Worker motif on the Hungarian wrestling champion Tibor Fischer and first used the design in 1911 in 'Népszvava' [The People's Voice] newspaper. He left Hungary in 1919 when Admiral Horthy took power, and moved to Vienna to design posters for the Social Democrats. The artist's expressionist lines communicate his genuine commitment to the cause, and his 'Hero-Worker' revolutionised the party's image in the 1920 elections. The figure has since been taken up in diverse political contexts as a way of symbolising strength with a monumental and almost mythological quality.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Titles |
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| Materials and techniques | Colour lithograph |
| Brief description | Election poster for Social Democratic Party designed by Mihály Biró, colour lithograph; Vienna, 1920 |
| Physical description | A large muscular man in a blacksmith's apron is shown holding a sledge hammer, facing a group of capitalist figures: a large man in a dark suit, a soldier, and two other figures whose eyes are shut and arms are outstretched in denial. Their feet are surrounded by bulging sacks of money with the Austrian Parliament Building in the background. Text below in German. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions | 'Gegen die Einheitsfront des / Kapitalismus - die Einheitsfront / Derarbeitenden Menschen! / WÄHLT / SOZIALDEMOKRATISCH' (printed in pale red tones over five lines across the lower margin)
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| Gallery label | Mihály Biró was one of the first poster artists to portray the ordinary worker as a hero. In this election poster for the Social Democratic Workers’ Party of Austria, the workers’ movement is embodied in a herculean figure preparing to smash his way through ‘the united front of capitalism’ to get to Parliament behind.
A World to Win: Posters of Protest and Revolution, V&A, Galleries 88a and 90, (1 May-2 Nov 2014)(01/05/2014-02/11/2014) |
| Credit line | Gift of the American Friends of the V&A; Gift to the American Friends by Leslie, Judith and Gabri Schreyer and Alice Schreyer Batko |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Place depicted | |
| Summary | Biró modelled his Hero-Worker motif on the Hungarian wrestling champion Tibor Fischer and first used the design in 1911 in 'Népszvava' [The People's Voice] newspaper. He left Hungary in 1919 when Admiral Horthy took power, and moved to Vienna to design posters for the Social Democrats. The artist's expressionist lines communicate his genuine commitment to the cause, and his 'Hero-Worker' revolutionised the party's image in the 1920 elections. The figure has since been taken up in diverse political contexts as a way of symbolising strength with a monumental and almost mythological quality. |
| Bibliographic reference | Noever, Peter (Ed.), Pathos in Red (MAK Wien, 2011), p.87 |
| Other number | LS.245 - Leslie Schreyer Loan Number |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.1111-2004 |
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| Record created | June 11, 2004 |
| Record URL |
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