The Parade

Excerpts of a story in 55 drawings
1957
H. BITTNER AND COMPANY / PUBLISHERS NEW YORK

Si Lewen’s Parade is a timeless story told in a language that knows no country—a wordless epic that, despite its muteness, is more powerful than the written or the spoken word. First published in 1957, The Parade is a lost classic, newly discovered, remastered, and presented by Art Spiegelman, the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Maus. Reproduced in a unique two-sided accordion-fold format with an extensive overview of the artist’s career on the verso, The Parade is a celebration of art and the story of recurring war as Si Lewen experienced it over the past 90 years, watching the joyful parades that marked the end of World War I lead into the death marches of World War II and the Korean War. As The Parade unfolds, the reader is taken on an unforgettable journey of sequential images.

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Editorial Reviews

“An eloquent and vigorous protest against war’s horror and futility”

— The New York Times, from an exhibition review of The Parade, 1953

“The Parade is a powerfully moving free-jazz dirge of a book that depicts mankind’s recurring war fever. It remains sadly urgent and relevant today.”

— Art Spiegelman, from his introduction

“Nothing can equal the psychological effect of real art … Our time needs you and your work!”

— Albert Einstein, from a letter to Si Lewen, 1951

“A compelling testament to Lewen’s gifts for stirring our souls with the silent grace of painted panel after panel after panel. As a narrative, it is music by which to mourn Man’s fate.”

— The Washington Post

Next: A Journey