The war of haves and have nots 

Curator: Here we have a drawing called "The War of Haves and Have Nots," attributed to Camille Pissarro. Editor: It's intense. Chaotic even. All these densely packed figures drawn with furious energy—like a powder keg ready to blow. Curator: It does evoke a certain precarity. What’s especially interesting is the stark visual contrast: A grotesquely obese figure, clutching a bag labelled "capital", dominates the scene, elevated above a throng of supplicating people. We must ask ourselves, who has and who does not, and why. Editor: Look closely at the pen work itself. The way the artist builds texture—those frantic scribbles, massed darks against the blank paper—it emphasizes the disparity between the ‘haves’ figure and the ‘have-nots’, reflecting economic anxieties about the excesses of capitalism. Curator: Exactly. There is also the composition that suggests class divides within late 19th-century France. You’ll notice in the background depictions of Parisian landmarks, The Eiffel Tower and an iron bridge, these structures represent not only national pride and modernity, but also serve to underline who owns the means of production and who has very little access to them. Editor: And how the artist’s choice to draw this as a stark caricature seems key here. Pissarro seems intent to critique through material, how a capitalist structure has caused social inequalities and financial divisions that can never hope to benefit everyone equally. Curator: The modernism aesthetic coupled with this caricature-like expression suggests a deeper engagement with how social inequities function systemically. The artwork makes one think about power imbalances, challenging viewers to consider our own complicity within historical and ongoing conflicts rooted in financial disparities and social divisions. Editor: Indeed. What this drawing tells us goes well beyond merely representing the class struggle: It's an attempt to explore these ideas with simple tools like paper, pen, and ink. Curator: Precisely. In examining a piece like "The War of Haves and Have Nots," we see both a representation and also a potent tool to reflect the critical potential embedded within even seemingly simplistic, economical artwork. Editor: I’ll agree, it does hold some value and brings awareness to material and class.