Strike 1917

Grace Cossington Smith made this painting, called "Strike," using thick, deliberate strokes of oil paint. Just look at the energy in those marks! I imagine her, brush in hand, building up the scene layer by layer. See how the figures emerge from this ochre landscape, a crowd coalescing around a central figure? I bet she was thinking about Marsden Hartley and those early American modernists, all that raw, expressive emotion. The workers, rendered with a kind of blocky simplicity, feel so present. And the paint itself! You can almost feel the weight of the medium in your hands, as she applied it. It's not about perfection; it's about the act of painting itself. The raised fist – a symbol of defiance, of solidarity – anchors the composition and conveys the artist’s emotional intent. The conversation between artists never stops; it evolves with each brushstroke, each layer of paint.