Modes et Manières d'Aujourd'hui, 1922, Pl. 10 : L'Attentat 1922 - 1923

Fernand Siméon made this print called, ‘The Attack’ in 1922, one of a series called ‘Modes et Manières d'Aujourd'hui’. The color palette is muted, almost sepia-toned, and constructed with these bold, graphic lines. I wonder about Siméon, sketching away, capturing this dramatic moment on what looks like a train. The tension is palpable, right? The well-dressed man with his hands up, the robber with his pistol, and the lady’s little dog—he seems just as alarmed as his owner! And the shapes, they’re so angular and stylized, like he’s carving into the scene rather than just drawing it. I keep thinking about the way he must have felt making this. Was he trying to capture a specific news event or a collective anxiety of the time? Or was he, in his own way, just riffing on the absurdity of it all? It makes you wonder about the ongoing conversation between artists through time. The early moderns are always pushing and pulling at each other, responding to the world around them in such unique ways, right? This piece is no exception, with its mix of anxiety, satire, and formal experimentation.