In den herberg van "Moeder Europa" 1922

This sketch by J. Bretschneider, called "In den herberg van "Moeder Europa"" is made using pencil, ink and paper. I imagine Bretschneider hunched over the paper, the scratch of the pencil a kind of frenetic energy, mirroring the scene he's capturing: a chaotic tableau in a tavern filled with larger-than-life characters. Look at the frantic energy of the lines, each stroke building up to define the figures jostling for space. The artist really goes to town with a sense of depth and detail, from the foreground figures to the blurry ones further back. It's like he's sketching the zeitgeist, maybe a snapshot of political tensions bubbling beneath the surface in a smoky haze of boisterous debate and furtive glances. I wonder, was he trying to capture the spirit of a continent teetering on the edge?