Illustration to Voltaire, "Candide" 1948

This is an illustration to Voltaire’s “Candide” made by Imre Reiner in 1948, probably with pen and ink. It's got that great scratchy, nervous energy that I just love in a drawing. The image is made up of these quick, jumbled lines, like a tangle of thoughts trying to find their way onto the page. The texture feels almost frantic, but somehow, the figures emerge from the chaos. Look at the way he renders the beard, it's like a little thicket of lines, or the frenetic hatching of the face, so immediate and direct. You can really sense Reiner just working through it, not precious, just going for it. It makes me think of other artists who embraced that kind of raw, unpolished feel, like maybe a Kirchner or even some of Guston’s later stuff. Ultimately, art’s a conversation, right? A messy, beautiful conversation that keeps evolving. And it’s never about having the final word.