Untitled (War Scene) 1945

Robert Noel Blair made this ink drawing, Untitled (War Scene), around 1945. It's all about marks; scratchy, urgent, and immediate, like he's trying to capture a fleeting moment or a raw emotion. Look at how the black ink bleeds into the paper, creating these soft, undefined edges. The texture is almost velvety, which is interesting considering the subject matter. Blair isn’t trying to hide the process. You can practically see the speed of his hand as he draws the planes, the vehicles, and even the bare trees. The marks are loose, yet somehow they convey a sense of chaos and movement. I keep coming back to the figures at the bottom left. Their bodies are just a few strokes of ink, but they speak volumes about vulnerability and fear. It reminds me of some of Philip Guston's later work, where the clunky, cartoonish figures are still so full of feeling. Both artists use a kind of directness that gets right to the heart of the matter. Art doesn’t always have to be polished, sometimes the messiness is the point.