Hugo Gellert

Primary Accumulation: Savage Legislation Against the Expropriated from the End of the Fifteenth Century Onwards Acts of Parliament to Force Down Wages
1933

An open book with the left page containing a block of text titled "PRIMARY ACCUMULATION" and the right page featuring a black and white illustration of three muscular, shirtless men standing side by side, each holding a tool—a pickaxe, a sledgehammer, and a shovel. They are posed as if ready to work, with determined expressions on their faces.

Not on view

Date
1933

Classification
Prints

Medium
Lithograph and letterpress

Dimensions
Sheet (folded): 22 1/2 × 15 1/8in. (57.2 × 38.4 cm) Sheet (unfolded): 22 1/2 × 30 1/4in. (57.2 × 76.8 cm) Image: 22 1/2 × 15 1/8in. (57.2 × 38.4 cm)

Accession number
2016.115.11

Edition
19/133

Publication
Printed by Atelier Desjobert; published by Hugo Gellert

Credit line
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of Fern and Hersh Cohen

Rights and reproductions
© Estate of Hugo Gellert, courtesy Mary Ryan Gallery, New York

API
artworks/50206

Part of a series:

Karl Marx Capital in Pictures

62 works

An open book with the left page filled with text under the heading "COMMODITIES" and the right page featuring a detailed pencil drawing of a classical statue of a man in draped clothing, standing with one arm extended and wearing sandals.

An open book with the left page filled with text under the heading "COMMODITIES" and the right page featuring a detailed pencil drawing of three cylindrical objects resembling canned goods, one of which is sliced to reveal a cross-section of a human brain.

An open book with the left page containing a block of text under the title "COMMODITIES" and the right page featuring a detailed black and white illustration of a circular diagram with various elements such as wheat, gears, and a central hand holding a sword, all numbered for reference.

An open book with the left page filled with text and the right page featuring a black and white illustration of a clenched fist holding a bunch of wheat stalks.

An open book with the left page filled with text under the heading "COMMODITIES" and the right page featuring a black and white illustration of a muscular man and woman standing side by side, with the man's hands on the woman's breasts, which have targets on them. Above them, a small bird flies with a twig in its beak.

An open book with the left page filled with text under the heading "COMMODITIES" and the right page featuring an illustration of a suit jacket on a hanger and a rolled-up piece of fabric, both adorned with muscular human arms in place of sleeves.

An open book with two pages visible. The left page contains dense text under the heading "CONCEPT OF RELATIVE SURPLUS VALUE," while the right page features a detailed illustration of a hand holding a stopwatch, with numbers 1 through 12 arranged in a circular pattern around the watch, suggesting the passage of time or a clock.

An open book with the left page containing dense text under the heading "CONSTANT CAPITAL AND VARIABLE CAPITAL," and the right page featuring a black and white illustration of a large, dark cave with striated walls, inside of which an old-fashioned, boxy television set is discarded and partially buried in the ground.

An open book with the left page filled with text under the heading "COOPERATION" and the right page featuring a black and white illustration of seven human figures, each with one hand extended forward holding a rope and the other hand placed on the hip of the person in front, suggesting a collaborative effort or teamwork.

An open book with two pages visible; the left page contains dense text under the heading "DIVISION OF LABOR AND MANUFACTURE," while the right page features a black and white illustration of a large waterwheel and gears, suggesting an industrial or manufacturing setting. The artwork has a vintage or historical style, and there are chains and ropes depicted as part of the machinery.

Hugo Gellert
87 works in the collection

View artist

Hugo Gellert

Primary Accumulation: Savage Legislation Against the Expropriated from the End of the Fifteenth Century Onwards Acts of Parliament to Force Down Wages 1933

Hugo Gellert 87 works in the collection

Primary Accumulation: Savage Legislation Against the Expropriated from the End of the Fifteenth Century Onwards Acts of Parliament to Force Down Wages
1933

Hugo Gellert
87 works in the collection