Woman on White Horse 1933

Aleksandr Nikolaevich Samokhvalov made this drawing of a Woman on a White Horse in 1936. The marks in this piece, made with graphite, feel urgent, scribbled in a way that suggests a process of constant looking and adjusting, you know? The cross hatching here gives the figures form, while the white of the paper peeks through in places creating a sense of light and volume. Look at the horse's body, the ways that the hatched marks form a kind of optical illusion. The marks give a textural sense to the piece, so you can almost feel the rough texture of the horse's hair, the fear in the figures faces. The contrast between the dark, densely worked areas and the lighter spaces gives a sense of depth, of drama. Samokhvalov's piece reminds me of Otto Dix, another artist who didn't hold back, who was committed to showing the world as he saw it, warts and all. There is a quality in both artist's work, that suggests art is something that should unsettle us, ask difficult questions and refuse easy answers.