The Torpedoed Sussex 1916

James McBey made "The Torpedoed Sussex" with ink on paper. You can almost see him there, rapidly sketching, trying to keep up with the scene unfolding in front of him. The controlled chaos of the scene, the wrecked ship, the anxious crowds, it's all held together with a sort of frenetic energy. Imagine him, quickly moving his hand, trying to capture the emotion of the scene, the pen dancing on the page. McBey’s approach is all about immediacy and the raw, unfiltered capture of a moment. He must have been thinking about the fragility of life, the chaos of war, and the human drama unfolding around him. There’s something so visceral and immediate about this work, it’s like a snapshot of a fleeting moment in history. He has something in common with Grosz or Dix, other artists working at this time who tried to capture what it felt like to live through a terrible moment in history. I see artists as being in an ongoing conversation and exchange of ideas across time, inspiring one another’s creativity.