Judge — March 29, 1913 — page 11: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This is a cubist-style portrait of President Woodrow Wilson from Judge magazine's satirical "Portrait Gallery." The cubist technique—fragmented, geometric planes—was a modernist art movement that Judge's audience would have found deliberately distorted and absurd. The satire works on two levels: First, it mocks cubism itself as incomprehensible artistic pretension. Second, the fragmented portrait of Wilson suggests his fractured or contradictory nature—possibly referencing criticisms of his policies, leadership, or public persona during his presidency (1913-1921). The caption's incomplete text ("Cubists paint the soul and thought") implies that even if cubists claim depth, what emerges is merely confusion. The architectural silhouettes in the background (Capitol, White House) anchor this as political commentary on Wilson's Washington.