Claudius [Marius J.G. Thomassen] (1881-1971), designer

TEGEN ZWARTEN HANDEL BESCHERM HEN! [PROTECT THEM AGAINST THE BLACK MARKET!] 

Printed poster

[The Netherlands] 

Departement van Volksvoorlichting en Kunsten [Department of Public Information and Arts] 

[1943]

Approx. 20 1/8 x 29 3/16 in.

A rare propaganda poster from the Nazi-occupied Netherlands, warning citizens of utilizing black markets. A crowd of people is terrorized by a large demonic figure, his ebony skin evidently representing the supposed threat of black markets. Curiously, the figure dons a winged helmet and grasps a simplified caduceus, attributes typically associated with the Greek deity Hermes. Nazi occupiers controlled the food distribution throughout the Netherlands, and black markets proliferated. 

Designed by Dutch illustrator Marius J.G. Thomassen under his pseudonym "Claudius." Despite an international illustration career in the Netherlands and the United States, Thomassen gained notoriety for his collaborative pro-Nazi works, many of them antisemitic. 

[Nazi Art, Propaganda, Posters, Ephemera, World War II, WWII]