I've lost my ring… 1943

Kukryniksy's "I've lost my ring…" is a satirical cartoon, probably made with ink and gouache on paper. It strikes me as a raw kind of image-making; the kind of drawing where the hand wants to travel fast to keep up with the mind. The bright yellow background really pops, doesn't it? I love the surface quality here. It's like, how quickly can you convey the most information, in the fewest marks? Look at those zig-zagging lines in his cloak or shawl, but especially in the ragged edges of his uniform! They’re not just lines, they're little explosions of energy. And the way the swastikas form a 'ring' on the map behind him, really brings home the sense of a noose tightening. This piece reminds me of Honoré Daumier's lithographs, which are equally unflinching in their depiction of human folly. It really speaks to how art can be a form of resistance, a way of cutting through the bullshit and speaking truth to power. It's not pretty, but it's powerful!