With a spear our foe is done, then we did him with a gun, as before with steel we fought him, so we smash him where we spot him! 1941

This intense, graphic image by the collective Kukryniksy from around the mid-20th century seems to erupt from the very paper it’s printed on, using bold outlines and blocks of color like a comic, but deadly serious. I can imagine them working together, maybe even arguing good-naturedly about the composition, as they tried to capture the urgency and anger of the moment. Look at how the lines are so sharp and unforgiving, how the red tank is the harbinger of doom against the blocky black background. The figures are almost cartoonish, but there’s nothing funny about the message. The tank treads especially—those repeating, crushing shapes—make me think of the relentless nature of war. It reminds me of the visual language of artists like Grosz or Heartfield, but rendered with a kind of Soviet directness. Ultimately, artists are always speaking to each other, borrowing, and responding. What comes through is how art can be this powerful form of expression, born from chaos, yet somehow shaping our understanding.