Henri de Groux: Gas Masks

This etching by Groux portrays the gas men of World War I as beings who are not human. This is of course befitting to the style of ruthless killing that these soldiers caused. Underneath each of these masks, however, is a person leading their own life. The mask transforms them into a killing robot-like individual. Soldiers in the trenches of World War I must have felt great terror when they saw enemies approaching with these masks on. All of the art I saw depicting gas men cast these soldiers in a light of fear. Most of this picture is very dark, and it is hard to make out the pictures of the soldiers. This is because of the cloud of gas behind them. I wonder how many soldiers survived gas attacks. The cloud seems so thick and oppressive. The experience would certainly drive anyone crazy. I guess the gas would have been somewhat visible, even though I had always imagined the gas to be an invisible killer. I think it probably would have been much more frightening to see the gas approaching, even though soldiers falling dead from apparently no cause would definitely be enough to scare me too.