Description
Myself and Gott, 26.5 cm x 18.5 cm, signed and dated in the lower left-hand corner, “Edmund J. Sullivan 1918.” An original pen-and ink drawing, on heavy card stock, signed and dated in the lower left-hand corner. An image showing a small Kaiser on his hands and knees, crawling towards the foot of the throne, on which sits the god-like gigantic Kaiser enthroned, holding the scepter and orb. On the verso is an extensive pencil and ink explanation: “The Cult of the First Person Singular & the Divine Right” / The Kaiser is never tired of talking, and he has two subjects which are perpetually cropping up Myself and God ‘always bracketed first.’ God, by the wisdom of the ages, made man in His Own Image. The Kaiser has reversed the process and made a God exactly like himself and fallen down and worshipped it; and called on the world to worship his Idol with him. Those who do not accept his god, he persecutes. He has cut Christ and the Holy Ghost out of the Trinity he professes he substituted himself of the God of the Universe which he proposes eventually to abolish but patronizes what little he has left. He is indeed the Great I Am — a singular first person — whom he himself quite believe in.” This is followed by an annotation in ink: “Myself and Gott / the Kaiser is talking of ‘myself and God,’ always bracketed first. God, we are told, made man in his own image and likeness. The Kaiser reversed the process, and built up a God exactly like himself, and fell down and worshipped, calling upon all others to worship his Idol with him.” The pencil date “July 11” also appears on the verso. Condition is fine.
This drawing was drawn first in pencil, then retraced in ink by Edmund J. Sullivan. This anti-German drawing came after the Irish Uprising during Easter Week in 1916, in which Germany sought to arm the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB). In the 1918 General Election, the last all-island election held in Ireland, Republicans won 73 seats out of 105, on a policy of separation from Westminster and Irish independence. E. J. Sullivan’s cartoons relating to Germany’s involvement in Ireland document the view held in Westminster that Germany was exploiting the desire for Irish independence for Germany’s own selfish strategic goals, as personified by the Kaiser.
Edmund Joseph Sullivan (1869 – 1933) followed in his artist father’s footsteps, when he chose to work as an artist, choosing book illustration and graphic design. The acerbic satire evident in this anti-German cartoon shows Sullivan’s enormous talent and his ability to work under a rush order deadline. Sullivan’s drawings are held in the Morgan Library’s collection of Modern and Contemporary Drawings.
