‘Fake News & Lying Pictures: Political Prints in the Dutch Republic’ to open in Hoehn Family Galleries

The newest exhibit in the Hoehn Family Galleries, "Fake News & Lying Pictures: Political Prints in the Dutch Republic,” will officially open to the USD community later this week.

The opening reception will be from 4-6 p.m. Thursday in the gallery space, located inside Founder’s Hall. The loan exhibition, curated by Maureen Warren of the Krannert Art Museum at the University of Illinois, can be viewed from Feb. 10 through May 12. 

"Today, editorial cartoons and memes provoke laughter, indignation, even action,” reads the show’s description. “These forms of expression are usually traced to 18th-century satirical artists, such as William Hogarth and James Gillray, but they have earlier Dutch precedents. This exhibition explores strategies printmakers used to commemorate events, create heroes and villains, and form consensus for collective action.”

The description continues, “The prints in this exhibition caused international incidents, were part of coordinated propaganda campaigns and shaped collective memory. Dutch printmakers used trolling tactics long before the invention of the internet; they concealed damaging information, told outright lies, and celebrated some public figures while ridiculing others. Their imagery stoked collective praise, unrest, scorn and even violence — functions that political artwork continues to serve today.”

“This exhibition highlights the history and visual strategies of 17th-century Dutch printmakers who, long before the invention of the internet, employed trolling tactics to coordinate propaganda campaigns, incite international incidents and establish collective memory,” the university galleries team wrote about the exhibit. “Much like contemporary culture, which has been shaped by memes and visual satire, the 43 works on view reflect centuries-old practices of political commentary that are resonant with our current moment.”

— USD News Center