RAEMAEKERS, 'IDYLLIC NEUTRALITY', CHARCOAL AND WATERCOLOUR, 1916

483 by 330mm., watercolour and charcoal, signed, mounted, framed and glazed

EXHIBITED:
‘The Long Nineteenth Century: Treasures and Pleasures’, Chris Beetles Gallery,
March-April 2014, no 174

Raemaekers’ Cartoons, Volume I (London, 1916) page 275

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

‘In the picture opposite the best elements of the great cartoonist’s genius have full scope. One has the biting satire, the humour and the extraordinary gift of representing facial expressions with an economy of line reminding one of the best work of the late Phil May, that prince of humorous British caricaturists. Raemaekers does not even spare even his own countrymen when he discovers a situation inimical to the welfare of the Allied cause, or one which involves an obvious absurdity.

Here we have such a situation. In the early days of the War of far greater frequency than at present, thanks to the ever tightening “strangle hold” of the British Fleet, there can be no doubt that for many months Holland (greatly to her material gain) turned herself into a conduit pipe for the supply of contraband of War to the Central Empires and more especially to Germany. Daily there were scenes such as that depicted, though possibly veiled with some thin veneer either of legality or subterfuge.

Dutch peasants (as well as the agents of the rich merchants and the resident German smugglers) of all ages and grades flocked to the frontier if not literally to drop their bags of contraband over the slenderly marked line which divides Holland from Germany.’

Clive Holland in Raemaekers’ Cartoons, Volume I (London, 1916) page 274