Greedy enemies are looking 1941

Kukryniksy made this print, Greedy Enemies are Looking, sometime between 1924 and 1957 using lithography. Can you imagine the artist in the studio, working through the night, proofing different versions, looking for the most striking image? The three panels, each with stark color fields, yellow, blue, and yellow, set the stage for these hapless Nazi soldiers, depicted as thieves and scarecrows. The artist uses caricature to diminish their power and humanity. Look at the top figure, running off with stolen goods, the bullet hot on his heels. I am wondering if the artist felt a sense of defiance in the face of real violence and horror. How to fight back? How to stand up? The composition and color relationships, along with this particular form of figuration, feel related to the work of other political cartoonists like John Heartfield. Artists are always having a conversation with each other across time. But here, satire becomes an act of resistance.