This is one from a series of at least five travel posters for Venezuela, issued in the 1950s and and urging tourists to “Get to Know Venezuela First.” The posters in the series, issued by the Ministry of Development together with the National Tourism Office, emphasize both the country’s beautiful and varied natural landscapes as well as its abundant natural resources. This is perhaps the most surreal of these otherwise very conventional designs: a huge disembodied hand is shown removing oil wells from Lake Maracaibo, situated in the northwest of the country in its main oil-producing area.