Het licht uit Rusland before 1917

Willy Sluiter made this work, Het licht uit Rusland, with crayon and lithography on paper. I'm thinking about the artist in their studio, moving back and forth to assess the work's evolution. I wonder what was going through their mind as the image bloomed onto the page? The soft greys and blacks are offset by the sun-kissed yellow at the top. It's so delicate. There are these explosions of light, radiating freedom, revolution, and democracy into the otherwise dreary trench. You can feel the weight of the world in the line work alone, but then the artist gives us this suggestion of something new and optimistic. I see Sluiter in conversation with other artists, riffing on the themes of war and peace, and gesturing towards the future. How incredible is that?