Orphans of War 1915

Théophile Alexandre Steinlen made this image with crayon and graphite, a shifting and emerging drawing on paper. I feel for Steinlen. The image has that feeling of holding, of being there for someone. The crayon is roughly applied in a way that adds to the raw emotion of the scene. The children huddle to the veiled woman for comfort. The texture of the crayon creates movement and depth, almost like we are looking at a charcoal sketch. It’s pretty stark, almost like Käthe Kollwitz, whose prints also have that urgent quality. The way the artist worked and reworked the lines suggests a process of trying to find the right way to express the deep sadness of the subject. There is this gesture of the mother figure, protecting the children. Art-making is such an act of empathy, isn't it? We can never know exactly what Steinlen felt. The artist has brought us into the arena of the subject, a conversation about humanity and art over time.