This drawing was done at a German restaurant in New York City, and is a tongue-in-cheek interpretation of German “Heimat” (roughly, “home”) kitsch. The stuffed deer stands for the belling stag (“Roehrender Hirsch”), which is the subject of pretty much every painting in old Germans’ homes, and is an allusion to the German spirit, an ennobled self-image connected to wholesome forests, pride, history and beauty. I gave the stag a sort of diorama of an Alpine landscape, which features large in the Bavarian (Southern German) psyche, because Bavaria is the cradle of most clichés Americans associate with Germany (castles, lederhosen, BMW and and beer, to name a few). A few jokey details include the flouncey lamp shade, doilies, and tasteful wood paneling.
