Imperialism c. 1940

Jolán Gross-Bettelheim created this monochromatic lithograph titled ‘Imperialism’. Born in 1900, Gross-Bettelheim, a Hungarian-Jewish artist, lived through both World Wars. The rise of fascism and the looming threat of violence shaped her perspective, leading her to explore themes of oppression and power in her work. ‘Imperialism’ embodies the anxieties of its time through its use of stark contrasts and distorted perspectives to depict the dehumanizing nature of militarization. Here, row upon row of soldiers, masked and bearing arms, are rendered as automatons, their humanity sacrificed in the service of the war machine. The image speaks to the individual’s loss of agency within systems of power. Gross-Bettelheim does not celebrate military might, but instead offers a critique of its emotional and psychological toll. The artwork serves as a potent reminder of the human cost of ideological conflict, reflecting both a historical moment and timeless questions about power, identity, and resistance.