Sous la Botte 1915

Théophile Alexandre Steinlen made this drawing, "Sous la Botte," with pencil, sometime before 1923. Look at this range of grays, laid down with such urgent, forceful strokes. You can almost hear the scratch of the graphite on paper. It's hard to not feel something for Steinlen here. You can imagine him, in the studio, consumed by the political events of the day. The artist's hand moves across the paper, trying to make sense of the atrocity of conflict. This isn’t just observation; it's like he’s wrestling with his feelings, trying to pin down the meaning of power and subjugation. The composition, broken up into three parts, makes it feel like a storyboard. What I love about the single-mindedness of drawing is its ability to become an extension of the artist's mind, or even their body. I see Steinlen in this drawing, and I think that's the point: we are all implicated. It’s like he’s saying, "Look at this, feel this, and let's not forget it."