Marshall Joffre
14 Woodcuts from an English Booklet
The following 14 colored woodcuts are taken from a small English language booklet. There is no title nor date to the publication, but judging from the chronology and the changing tenses in the very limited text, it would appear to have been published sometime around late 1917 or 1918, in any case before the war's end. This is probably an English tranlation of an original French booklet.
The woodcuts by Guy Anoux, in general appearance somewhat similar to the popular French 'Images d'Epinal', are executed in a naive style, much like something from a children's book. They are quite colorful and eye-catching. From what is told in the booklet about the life of Marshall Joffre, one would believe him to have been selected by Fate from an early age on to save France in her dearest hour of need.
Clearly a very simplified patriotic publication for an undemanding audience, it is nonetheless charming in appearance, if only by virtue of its graphic elegance and visual appeal.
*see also illustrations of French soldiers in 1917 by Guy Arnoux