Homo homini lupus

The watercolour Homo homini lupus (Man is wolf to man) belongs with works in which Pirner criticized and parodied contemporary society, employing allegory and popular compositional schemas. The winged figure of Imagination is being crucified here by a pack of apes, with other animals under the cross looking on curiously. Using linear division of the drawing into independent “fields”, the whole scene is stylized to look like a stained−glass panel. As in other of his works created at the turn of the century, Pirner plays with Art Nouveau ornamental motifs; thus in this drawing the ideal world of Art is subjected to the ruthless and devastating clash with the reality of modern times. In combining the allegorical and symbolic content with a lavishly decorative form, Pirner reveals his stance that abounds in irony and sarcasm, showing through which are his personal feelings of disillusion and pessimism.