Tiger and Monkey 1940

George Gaethke made "Tiger and Monkey" with what looks like graphite on paper. There’s this charming naivety in the drawing style. The lines are crisp, and the shading is carefully applied, giving the whole scene a sort of dreamlike quality. It’s like stepping into a children's book, but one with a slightly unsettling edge. I keep coming back to the mark-making in the foliage. It's all these tiny, repetitive lines that build up the density and texture, right? There's a real love for the medium in that process, a kind of meditative act. It reminds me a bit of Henri Rousseau, that self-taught master of the jungle scene. Both artists share this flattened perspective and attention to detail, but Gaethke’s got his own quirky take on it. Art's just one big conversation anyway, right? Each artist riffing off the others, adding their own spin. And that’s what keeps it interesting, all the different voices chiming in.