Serbia: Sister Anne, plate twenty from Actualités Possibly 1916

This lithograph, titled "Serbia: Sister Anne," was created by Théophile Alexandre Steinlen. It is made using a stone, a grease-based crayon, and a complex chemical process to transfer an image onto paper. The rough, grainy texture of the lithograph lends an air of immediacy to the scene. You see a woman holding a child, standing at the edge of a cliff, and a man lying at her feet. The artist skillfully used the lithographic crayon to create a sense of depth and shadow. The drawing's marks are evocative of form and weight, yet also reveal the artist's hand. Steinlen was deeply committed to social justice, and lithography allowed him to reach a wide audience through newspapers and journals. In this image, the act of making is tied to the broader social issues of labor, politics, and consumption. The work becomes a powerful statement about the human cost of war. By considering the materials, the making, and the context, we begin to understand the full meaning of this artwork.