Rico Lebrun’s Veteran is one of a number of similarly-themed lithographs he produced at the close of World War II in reaction to the brutality and incalculable human and social cost of modern warfare. Lebrun, a veteran of the Italian armed forces from 1917 to 1920, was staunchly anti-war and horrified by the widespread destruction of human life and property left in the wake of the defeat of the Axis powers and the dissolution of their alliance. Here, he conveys these sentiments through a poignant portrayal of an anonymous, battered war veteran whose gaze of despair and mangled body signify the sacrifice he made for country and cause.
