Planche de Croquis No 2 1916

Théophile Alexandre Steinlen created "Planche de Croquis No 2" using sketches of vulnerable figures. On the left, a woman is throwing her arms up in the air, reminiscent of classical figures of Victory. Yet, her dishevelled hair and torn dress hint at a darker fate. Her raised arms echo those of supplicants in ancient religious art, embodying a raw emotional outcry. The image, with its stark emotionality, brings to mind similar gestures of agony found in works like "The Scream" by Munch, where the central figure is overwhelmed by a sense of existential dread. This gesture surfaces time and again in art, capturing profound suffering. It is a primal, archetypal expression that taps into our collective subconscious, a visual echo of shared human experiences that continue to resonate across centuries.