Soldaten met spin 1900 - 1910

Johan Gerard Sinia made this ink drawing of soldiers and a spider sometime in his career. It's all about the fluid, wet marks, pooling and bleeding into each other. It’s like Sinia let the ink do its own thing, embracing the unpredictable nature of the medium. I love the way he suggests form and shadow with such economy, like in the rocky landscape surrounding the figures. Look at the spider in the foreground, it becomes this focal point, a strange interloper in this scene of military life. Is it a symbol, a distraction, or just a moment captured in time? Sinia’s contemporary, George Grosz, comes to mind. Both artists were working in times of great social change and upheaval. Though different in style, they share a similar interest in portraying the human condition with raw honesty, embracing the messiness and ambiguity of life.