ALFRED F. BURKE (1893-1936) SHARE / JEWISH RELIEF CAMPAIGN. Circa 1915. 40x29 3/4 inches, 102x74 cm. Sackett & Wilhelms Corporation, Brooklyn. Condition B / B+: repaired tears, creases and abrasions in margins and image; restored losses and restoration in margins, some affecting image. An allegorical figure of America offering her bounty, a tray laden with bread and fruits, to four desperate Jewish refugees dressed in tatters. In the background, the New York skyline, a symbol of the prosperous and secure New World, beneath an optimistic orange and yellow sky (itself reminiscent of a wheat field and thereby a further indication of how much America has to share). As one of the finest, and rarest, of the World War I Judaic posters, "the relationship between the few words of strong text and the vivid, compelling imagery . . . [and] the economy of both text and image creates a succinct and lasting message" (Magnes p. 34). Magnes cover and p. 35, Borkan p. 175.
