Cold Steel 1934

Carl Hoeckner made "Cold Steel" as a print, and right away I’m thinking about the starkness of black and white, the way it simplifies and intensifies. Look at how the figures are built up with these tiny, insistent marks. The cross-hatching gives everything a tactile quality, like you could reach out and feel the weight of those bodies and the coldness of the steel. And it’s not just about what’s depicted, it’s about the process of making, the artist’s hand present in every line. I keep coming back to the faces of the soldiers, those dark, hollow eyes peering out from under their helmets, then above, the haunted faces of the munitions workers. There’s this sense of relentless repetition, of bodies used and worn down, and the faces become this powerful symbol of loss and dehumanization. It reminds me a bit of Kollwitz, that same unflinching gaze at the realities of war, but here, there’s a claustrophobia that's unique. Art isn't about answers, it's about opening up a space for feeling and thought.