The Empire Destroys, The Republic Pays c. 1918

Jean-Louis Forain made this drawing, The Empire Destroys, The Republic Pays, with what looks like charcoal, and it feels like a raw nerve. The stark contrast from dark to light, feels immediate, like a snapshot, but it's also carefully considered. There is real power in those smudged lines, almost like the figures are emerging from the dust around them. Look at the way Forain uses the side of the charcoal to create those broad strokes of shadow, especially in the figure's coat. It gives a sense of weight and volume, but also a kind of impermanence, like the whole thing could just blow away. I’m put in mind of Kathe Kollwitz’s stark, urgent prints, like she's another artist who wasn’t afraid to look directly at the bleaker sides of humanity, and to do so with real feeling. Art doesn't always have to be pretty, right? Sometimes it just needs to be real.