Three antisemitic posters from the “Exhibition of Monsters” – The Dreyfus Affair. France, 1900

Three antisemitic posters from the series Musée des Horreurs – “Exhibition of Monsters” / “Museum of Horrors” – The Dreyfus Affair. France, 1900.

• Poster No. 13: Ranc le Caïman – “Ranc the Caiman” (Caiman - South American crocodilian) – issued January 1900 - Senator Arthur Ranc depicted as a half-man, half-caiman monster. Louis-Ernest Ranc (1831–1902) was a journalist, politician, and an influential senator during the French Third Republic. A figure of the radical left, he was a vocal supporter of Dreyfus and aligned with journalists like Émile Zola and other leading defenders of civil liberties. For his pro-Dreyfus stance, Ranc became a frequent target of ridicule and slander by the anti-Dreyfusard and nationalist camp. The pointed ears and sharp teeth in the caricature add a demonic dimension—not merely animalistic, but monstrous and satanic. (Poster preserved in protective plastic sleeve, removable for viewing).

• Poster No. 15: Signe de Grande détresse! – “Sign of Great Distress!” - issued January 1900 - Republican statesman Henri Brisson depicted as a bear, wearing a Freemason’s chain with a chamber pot engraved inside a triangle. On June 26, 1898, from the podium of the National Assembly, Brisson made a symbolic gesture toward Freemasons (often associated with Jews in antisemitic rhetoric), urging Freemason deputies to vote confidence in the government of Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau. his poster mocks his Freemason and pro-Dreyfus sympathies, portraying them as degrading and shameful.

• Poster No. 18: Il n'est pas Protestant – “He is not Protestant” – issued February 1900 - Ludovic Trarieux depicted as a goose or duck, with his distinctive head, thick moustache, gaping mouth, foam at the corners of his lips, and a confused or agitated expression. Ludovic Trarieux (1840–1904) was a jurist, republican politician, and the founder of the French League for the Rights of Man in 1898 - at the height of the Dreyfus Affair. He served briefly as Minister of Justice in Waldeck-Rousseau’s government (1895), resigning due to disagreements. A staunch Dreyfus supporter, Trarieux championed justice, human rights, and the rule of law. For the anti-Dreyfusard and nationalist right, Trarieux symbolized the “hypocritical” lawyer, placing universal ideals above national interest. In the anti-Dreyfus discourse of the period, Protestants were commonly associated with republicans, Freemasons, and sympathizers of the Jews. The caption “He is not Protestant” sarcastically implies that, though he presents himself as a righteous man, he is in fact part of the “conspiracy.”

The series “Exhibition of Monsters” (Musée des Horreurs) was published during the Dreyfus Affair under the pseudonym V. Lenepveu, and included 51 large posters featuring anti-Dreyfusard, antisemitic, and anti-Masonic illustrations. The series was issued in France over the course of about a year, from October 1899 to December 1900. The original plan was to publish 200 posters, but only 51 were ultimately released. The early posters in the series sold over 300,000 copies. In October 1899, the French police arrested several street vendors who were selling the posters, under orders from Police Commissioner Louis Lépine. According to some reports, Lépine ordered the cessation of their distribution following an appeal from Baron de Rothschild, who claimed the damage caused by their circulation was irreversible. In February 1900, local police sent letters threatening to revoke the commercial licenses of shopkeepers who continued to sell the posters, and from that point, their distribution ceased.

Identical size: 50×65 cm. Minor tears along the edges of the posters (reinforced with tape on the reverse). Good condition.