Henrique Alvim Corrêa — Drowning Victims, War of the Worlds 1906
From the landmark 1906 Belgian edition of H.G. Wells' 'La Guerre des Mondes,' illustrated by Henrique Alvim Corrêa, this haunting pen-and-ink drawing depicts desperate human hands clawing above a flood plain — likely the Black Smoke or Martian-induced devastation of the Thames estuary. A burning cityscape silhouettes the horizon while a body and debris float in the foreground. Corrêa's scratchy, expressionistic linework conveys visceral panic and mass drowning with remarkable economy.
Closer to an exploding space station than a quiet library — the image seethes with existential dread, mass death, and the horror of human helplessness against an overwhelming alien force. Corrêa's raw linework gives it a visceral, almost expressionist intensity that transcends mere illustration.
“Alvm Correa”
