Les Trimardeurs 1912

Théophile Alexandre Steinlen made this drawing, Les Trimardeurs, with what looks like charcoal or maybe a soft pencil, sometime around the turn of the last century. It's all about mark-making, right? The quick, almost scribbled lines that build up the forms, especially in the figures walking away from us, huddled together against some unseen force. I love how the texture of the paper becomes part of the piece, giving it a kind of raw, unfinished feel. Notice the way the artist uses light and shadow, not to create a realistic scene, but to evoke a mood. That dark, looming tree on the left, with its scratchy branches reaching up, contrasts so strongly with the open space to the right. It reminds me a bit of Daumier, you know, the way he captured everyday life with such empathy and immediacy. Both artists, in their own way, remind us that art is not just about pretty pictures, but about seeing and feeling the world around us.