This original 1915 colour lithograph by Hansi is entitled Soldat du régiment du Kronprinz (Tenue de campagne), translated as Soldier of the Crown Prince’s Regiment in Field Uniform. It belongs to the artist’s celebrated body of satirical First World War imagery devoted to the German Army.
The composition depicts a German soldier burdened with an absurd collection of objects, including an ornate grandfather clock, weapons, kitchen utensils and assorted household possessions. Hansi’s meticulous draughtsmanship and deliberately exaggerated details transform the supposedly disciplined military figure into a comic symbol of greed, arrogance and disorder.
Created during the First World War, the work reflects the strongly pro-French and anti-German position for which Hansi became famous. His humorous yet politically charged caricatures drew upon the tensions surrounding Alsace, which had been annexed by the German Empire following the Franco-Prussian War and remained under German administration until 1918.
Hansi was the pseudonym of Jean-Jacques Waltz (1873–1951), an Alsatian painter, illustrator, engraver and political caricaturist born in Colmar. His work combined the traditions of popular Alsatian imagery with incisive political satire. This lithograph was printed by Imprimerie Klein & Cie in Épinal, an important French centre for popular prints and illustrated publications.
This example is numbered 298 from the limited edition of 300 and is signed and dated 1915 by Hansi in pencil. Combining historical significance, vivid colour and sharply observed satire, it is a distinctive collector’s piece documenting French visual propaganda and Alsatian identity during the First World War.
Original lithography
War - 14-18 - Germany
German army - numbered 298/300 and signed by hand by the artist
Klein & Cie Epinal
Good condition
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