Bo Rearguard 

Editor: This is “Bo Rearguard,” a comical ink drawing, I guess you’d call it, by Jack Davis. The soldier looks like he’d rather be anywhere else; kind of world-weary and bedraggled, even. It's hard to tell the date of this work from looking at it, and his rendering style is fascinating! What do you see when you look at this drawing? Curator: Ah, Davis! His hand is unmistakable. What I see first is Davis's wonderfully expressive line work. It practically dances across the page, doesn’t it? Think about this fellow as a visual descendant of Daumier, but filtered through the sensibility of Mad Magazine. It's history seen through a funhouse mirror. The irony dripping from his work makes me both laugh and ache, somehow. Do you sense that too? Editor: I definitely get that humor, the "funhouse mirror" effect for sure. Is that why he chose such an unusual rendering of the uniform and all the…flies buzzing around him? Curator: The flies, the drooping mustache, that vaguely defeated slouch... Davis packs so much information into seemingly simple gestures. The exaggeration of the figure, coupled with meticulous details, offers a subtle commentary. It invites us to ponder the weight of history with a sideways grin. It whispers of truths we often try to bury beneath solemn pronouncements. I mean, who expects a Civil War drawing to also resemble a cartoon? Editor: That makes so much sense! Seeing it that way really opens up a whole new layer to the piece. Curator: Indeed. And I suspect a hint of sadness at his core. Editor: Thanks for helping me to read his marks more closely and understand this from his personal, ironic, intuitive perspective.