Soldiers in the Trenches by Andre Dunoyer de Segonzac

Soldiers in the Trenches 1919 - 1920

0:00
0:00

drawing, print, etching, ink, pencil, graphite

# 

pencil drawn

# 

drawing

# 

print

# 

etching

# 

pencil sketch

# 

landscape

# 

figuration

# 

ink

# 

pencil drawing

# 

pencil

# 

graphite

# 

history-painting

# 

modernism

Copyright: National Gallery of Art: CC0 1.0

Andre Dunoyer de Segonzac made this print, Soldiers in the Trenches, using etching, which means he drew into a metal plate with a needle and then bathed it in acid. Look at the sky; it’s a series of very closely drawn lines. That mark-making creates a claustrophobic feeling, like you can’t breathe. And then, if you look at the bottom right, there are these odd, squiggly curving lines, as if things are built up in a very ad hoc way. The artist is showing you that war isn’t just explosions, it’s hours of boredom spent huddled in a muddy hole. De Segonzac’s been compared to Cezanne. But, actually, I see him more as a kind of proto-Philip Guston in his ability to mix mundane subject matter with abstracted and expressive marks. There's an ambiguity here that makes the work feel very contemporary.

Show more

Comments

No comments

Be the first to comment and join the conversation on the ultimate creative platform.