Image Prefigures a Depression Icon
In his graphical review for Fritz Lang’s modernist film Metropolis, Reginald Marsh depicts lines of automaton-like factory workers in a futuristic dystopia. His drawing poignantly prefigures his later indelible images of Depression-era breadlines. A well known chronicler of the American scene, Marsh began as a freelance illustrator, newspaper artist, and contributor to the New Yorker. He produced lushly drawn cartoons based on observations of urban life for the magazine between 1925 and 1934.
In his graphical review for Fritz Lang’s modernist film <em>Metropolis</em>, Reginald Marsh depicts lines of automaton-like factory workers in a futuristic dystopia. His drawing poignantly prefigures his later indelible images of Depression-era breadlines. A well known chronicler of the American scene, Marsh began as a freelance illustrator, newspaper artist, and contributor to the <em>New Yorker</em>. He produced lushly drawn cartoons based on observations of urban life for the magazine between 1925 and 1934.