Untitled (young boy with lace collar and toy rifle)

This portrait of a boy holding a rifle suggests an association of masculinity with militarism in that era. Many French people wanted revenge for Prussia’s annexation of Alsace-Lorraine, territories that did not return to French control at the end of World War I in 1919. Looking at this portrait in hindsight, one might wonder if this boy served in the military or was a casualty during that war.