Enemies Surrounded By The Hundreds And Pushed Forward Like A Herd Of Game 1915

Achille Beltrame made this image of conflict with ink and watercolor on paper, and it’s fascinating how he captured such a chaotic scene with what looks like a delicate touch. You see the way the watercolor bleeds into the paper, creating soft edges and a sense of movement. The colors are muted, mostly greens and grays, which gives the piece a somber, almost dreamlike quality. But then, there are these little pops of red – a stripe on a hat, a flash of color on a uniform – that jolt you back to the reality of the scene. Check out the way the artist handles the crowd of soldiers at the back, turning people into marks that give the impression of the mass and its movement. It’s not so different to the marks an abstract artist might make. Beltrame’s work reminds me a bit of Kathe Kollwitz, who was also grappling with themes of war and human suffering in her art. But where Kollwitz is all about the heavy, expressive lines, Beltrame is more subtle, more nuanced. It's like he's saying, "Look at this horror, but let's not forget the beauty and fragility of life, too."