Austro-Hungarian troops trying to cross a river 1918

Achille Beltrame made this image of Austro-Hungarian troops, probably as a journalistic illustration. I'm struck by the sandy browns and grays, the way Beltrame’s clearly working to capture a somber mood. You can almost feel the chill of the water. Look at the soldier in the center foreground, he's pulling a fallen comrade. It looks like Beltrame’s using really fine hatching to define the shadows on his uniform. It’s the kind of detail that speaks to the immediate urgency of the moment. The way he layers these marks, it’s not just about describing what’s there; it’s about creating a sense of grit and determination. You know, there’s something about the way Beltrame constructs the scene that reminds me of some of Goya’s disaster prints. Both artists grapple with the hard realities of conflict. They don't shy away from depicting suffering, yet they manage to find a strange kind of beauty in the chaos. Ultimately, art, like history, is never just one thing.