Een krijgstocht bij de Kabylen 1894 - 1959

This print, called “Een krijgstocht bij de Kabylen”, was made by Gordinne. It’s all these little scenes, like a comic strip, made with simple lines and flat colors. I am thinking that the artist must have had to be really precise, with a steady hand and a good eye for detail. The way each character is rendered so consistently across the different panels, with all their specific gestures and expressions, you get a sense that the artist wanted to capture something about a story, or a series of events. I can imagine Gordinne sitting there, day after day, filling in all these lines, lost in their own world of storytelling. What was he trying to say about the world? It’s like he’s sharing a little piece of himself with you. Painting is such a lonely art, in some ways. It’s just you and the canvas, figuring things out, one brushstroke at a time. But then, when someone sees your work, it’s like you’re not alone anymore. You’re part of a bigger conversation, with all the other artists who came before you and all the ones who will come after.