Murder of Edith Cavell
1918
George Bellows turns a grim World War I execution into a theatrical nightmare in this 1918 print. British nurse Edith Cavell, dressed in stark white, descends a stone staircase toward her fate while exhausted soldiers slumber obliviously on the dungeon floor below. The dramatic, spotlight-like lighting creates a chilling sense of impending doom, contrasting the innocent nurse with the dark, waiting guards. Created as part of a propaganda series to expose German atrocities, this haunting image was designed to stir up American outrage and support for the war effort.
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