Mussolini in Nederland 1922 - 1929

This is a drawing in pencil, pen, and ink by Patricq Kroon. Look at how the artist made it! You can see the pressure of the pencil on the paper, the hatching, and the density of lines that bring this strange image into being. I like to imagine Kroon at his desk or table, working at this drawing, maybe with a cigarette in his mouth, thinking about Mussolini as a figure of ridicule. The artist is using the media to express their political opinions, and it is interesting to imagine the context in which this was created. The sheep in the lower right-hand corner, the buildings behind, and the text written on the page... this is an artist using all the tools they have at their disposal. We can read this drawing as part of a longer conversation between artists across time, responding to power, using art as a form of resistance and critique.