Midsummer Night's Dream by Sewell Avery – Vintage Poster
(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)
Description
This vintage poster of Midsummer Night's Dream by Sewell Avery brings a moment of history to your wall. The original is held by the Library of Congress, so what you hang is a true record of its time.
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Midsummer Night's Dream by Sewell Avery
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Among the political cartoons here, this 1944 drawing by Sewell Avery turns Shakespeare into wartime labor satire. Avery, chairman of Montgomery Ward and a vocal critic of government labor policy, titled it "Midsummer Night's Dream," a nod to the play's dreamlike confusion. The cartoon's targets are James C. Petrillo, head of the American Federation of Musicians, and Attorney General Francis Biddle, reflecting the bitter disputes over the union's recording ban and its demands for live musicians during the war. The drum majors and dreaming figures are worth a closer look for how they mock those fights.
| Created / published | 1944 June 18. |
|---|---|
| Medium | 1 drawing. |
| Genre | Editorial cartoons American.Drawings. |
| Subjects | Avery, Sewell.--1873-1960. Petrillo, James C. (James Caesar),--1892-1984. Biddle, Francis,--1886-1968. American Federation of Musicians--1940-1950. World War, 1939-1945--Economic & industrial aspects--United States. Dreaming--1940-1950. Drum majors--1940-1950. |
| Source | Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division |
| Original scan | 5,056 × 4,076 px · prints to 17 × 14 in at 300 dpi |
| Reference | AMZ-SOTP-HPA-210683 |
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