Untitled 1945

This untitled cartoon from 1945 by the Kukryniksy collective presents us with a satirical scene, rendered in stark black and white. It’s pure graphic tension. Imagine them at work; how they would have collaborated. What were they thinking? Probably something funny and insightful, right? Look how they use the weight of the ink, the pressure of the pen to create these caricatures. The dark robes, the furtive glances - it's all about the power of the line to convey a story. And you know, that’s what drawing is all about for me: the line, the gesture. A quick stroke can say so much. It's like jazz, improvisation on paper. Think of other masters of caricature, like Daumier, who used exaggeration to get at the truth. Artists are always in conversation, riffing off one another. It's not just about what's on the page, but the whole history of image-making behind it.