King Nikola Refereeing to the Montenegrin Army in Cetinje That Turks Have Yield Town of Scutari to the Montenegrins 1913

This illustration, by Achille Beltrame, shows King Nikola addressing the Montenegrin army in Cetinje, celebrating the news that the Turks had yielded the town of Scutari to the Montenegrins. Look at the way Beltrame used a soft, muted palette of creams, reds, and blues, which gives the image a dreamy, almost nostalgic feel, softening the edges of what must have been a moment of intense emotion. The texture of the image, which was published in a newspaper, is flat and smooth, lacking the tactile quality you might find in a painting. But if you look closely, you can see the individual marks that make up the image, each contributing to the overall sense of movement and energy. See the hats being thrown in the air? There’s something about the image’s overt idealism that reminds me of the Ashcan School; both share a journalistic impulse, but Beltrame’s image trades the gritty realism of Sloan or Bellows for romanticized nationalism. Of course, art is an ongoing conversation, with each artist building upon and responding to the work of those who came before. In the end, it’s up to us to find our own meaning in the images we encounter.