Georges van Raemdonck (1888-1966)

"Ook een Ideaal! Maar een leider hebben we gelukkig nog". Cartoon in response to the Oro alla Patria movement in Italy, 1935. India ink with charcoal and chalk. 47 x 33 cm.

*Oro alla Patria was a national demonstration organised by the fascist regime and took place on 18 December 1935. Italians were asked to donate gold to their nation to provide financial support for the war (in Ethiopia) and the army. The support was overwhelming: hundreds of thousands traded their weddings rings for an iron version for their country. Altogether 37 tons of gold and 115 tons of silver were collected. Part of these wedding rings were found when Mussolini and his accomplices were caught on the run in 1945.