A Strange Case of Epizooty, from Puck n.d.

Curator: This vibrant lithograph, titled "A Strange Case of Epizooty," comes to us from Joseph Keppler, though it's difficult to precisely date its creation. What’s your initial take on this bustling scene? Editor: It’s immediately striking, isn’t it? The scale is impressive, particularly with so many figures packed in, and the palette is rich, especially given the medium. The density almost mirrors the supposed “illness” afflicting that poor donkey at the center. You can almost feel the weight and texture of the printed paper itself. Curator: Keppler was a master of caricature, and this print, likely published in Puck magazine, uses animals as political symbols. He’s really skewering the political climate of his time, offering pointed social commentary through these exaggerated figures. The ‘Democracy Stable’ in the background tells us that this focuses on internal issues with the Democrat party. Editor: Absolutely, but let’s dig deeper into the materiality. The lithographic process, pulling the image from stone, would have allowed for relatively quick production, thus wider circulation to rapidly influence public thought and reaction. We also need to look at the labour—consider the workshop environment, where the skills of artists and printers merged for political discourse. Curator: It's more than political; Keppler is creating a narrative. Each character’s posture, costume and accompanying item like the needle, shovel or drum adds a satirical comment, like with this figure to the left and the shovel reading 'spoils'. The composition, chaotic yet meticulously planned, further emphasizes this critique. It represents competing remedies and figures within the party offering an image of chaos. Editor: But also, let’s talk about the materiality of satire itself. Consumption of political imagery, readily reproduced, fueled the social environment. These easily accessible prints shaped political discourse beyond just the elite and were used on pamphlets, posters, merchandise – transforming complex views into something the average worker could get. Curator: That's precisely what I find compelling here – its ability to reflect public opinions of that time. "A Strange Case of Epizooty" offers an invaluable view into political debates from long ago. Editor: And seeing the tangible, mass-produced nature makes these dialogues ever more real. Political criticism, etched into stone, printed on paper, passed among hands: political thought, indeed made material.