Untitled 1944

This untitled drawing by Kukryniksy, made sometime between 1924 and 1957, uses ink and watercolour to pretty brutal effect. The colours are faded, like a bad memory, and the line work is scratchy, urgent almost. It’s hard to miss the sort of sickly pink background. It's like the colour of cheap candy, which is sort of perverse given the subject matter. The artist uses thin, washy layers. This gives the drawing a ghostly, translucent feel. Look at the figure’s outstretched hands – they’re almost transparent, dissolving into the background. The stitches holding together his uniform are so carefully delineated, like he's about to fall apart, literally coming undone. It reminds me a bit of George Grosz, or even Philip Guston's later, more cartoonish style. But the Kukryniksy’s have a graphic, illustrative quality all their own, using a very specific visual language to convey powerful ideas about power, propaganda, and destruction. It is a real conversation piece.