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"Soldiers in the Snow" is an outstanding work in János Vaszary's oevre. Vaszary, who worked as a war correspondent of the Austro-Hungarian army in World War I, looked at war from the point of view of defenceless people, the same way as Mednyánszky did. He condenses experience from the battle field and makes them dramatic by the choice of the subject matter. Exhausted to the utmost and freezing to death, a group of people are fighting their way up a hill in snowfall and strong wind while they are supporting a collapsing comrade. The artist gives up colours in depicting the fight for life, he only uses shades of black and white. The group composed diagonally and following the form of a bow is surrounded on both sides by white patches with the same form as that of the snow. Tortured faces flash up between dark tattered clothes, wide and vehement brushwork, and a message to stir up people prepare the expressionis period of an artist sensitive to the demands of his age.
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