De Gaulle and Petain
During the occupation France was split between the French who accepted the armistice and followed Marshall Petain’s collaboration with the Nazis, and those who vowed to fight on and follow General De Gaulle’s Free French forces fighting with the Allies. The two men face in opposite directions as in the ancient Janus figure, Petain facing right and De Gaulle left. In front of each are copies of contemporary political posters. Petain faces a train of the French National railroad, the SNCF, which was used to transport French workers to Germany, as the posters encourage, and French Jewish families to Auschwitz. De Gaulle faces a tank, challenging the French to stand and fight, and the posters in front of him in the mural support the Resistance.
# 3. De Gaulle and Petain 1995 8’ X 24‘ Paint and Paper on Canvas