War! (c.1915) By Martin Anderson “Cynicus”
 
c1915. Photographic reproduction. Printed on white board.
 
Captions throughout the image, artist name “Cynicus” and publishers’ lines from Edinburgh and Sydney below the image.
 
39cm x 50cm
 
Various anti-war sentiments are captioned throughout the image. Other text includes a quotation from the bible concerning truth, another in a humorous tone from Scottish historian Thomas Carlyle condemning war and statements about Cynicus’ political cartoonist work from two newspapers. The publishers’ lines read “Cynicus, 45 York Place, Edinburgh” and “The Worker Print, St Andrew’s Place, Sydney.” The poster is priced at “one shilling.”
 
Reprinted in Sydney, this anti-war poster was created in Scotland by political cartoonist, postcard illustrator and publisher Martin Anderson, better known by his pseudonym “Cynicus.”
 
In 1915 he created this “allegorical anti-war poster entitled War! in a pyramidal composition: a crowned Mammon sits on a throne, tossing away the Nation’s wealth to an ecstatic crowd clutching sacks marked ‘War Profits’; a semi-naked Lust caresses him, famine and disease sit at her feet; Justice and Parliament stand bound and gagged; the Lamp of Truth is extinguished by censorship; the Church encourages the slaughter. In the foreground, a bloody river carries away the bodies of the dead while bankers grab the bank deposits of the dead.
 
This poster was displayed in his shop window until he was warned he could be interned without trial under the terms of the Defence of the Realm Act. The poster was removed from view but was made into a postcard which sold well.