Victors-Some c. 1940 - 1945

Robert A. Brown made this print, Victors-Some, using a dark palette and gestural marks to create an unsettling atmosphere. I imagine the artist hunched over the plate, his hand moving deliberately to build up the textures. Sympathizing with the artist, I wonder what it might have been like to conceive of such a grim image. The figures sprawl on the ground, their faces contorted in anguish or defeat. You can feel the weight of their bodies. Is that a skull? The dark areas, achieved through dense cross-hatching, add a somber, almost claustrophobic feeling. The bleakness of the scene is palpable. This print reminds me of Kollwitz's stark renderings of war and suffering. Artists have long grappled with difficult subject matter. It’s a way of processing the unprocessable, using the medium of art to try and make sense of the inexplicable. Artists build upon what’s come before, responding to each other across time. The act of creation is an act of translation, transforming lived experience into something that can be shared, questioned, and understood anew.