Road End 1939

Arthur Lehmann made this graphite drawing, called Road End, at an unknown date. Look at that pencil work, the way he slowly built up these smoky shades of grey! It’s not a flashy artwork, but there’s something mesmerizing about its stillness. I can imagine Lehmann outside on a cold day, hunkering down with his pencils and paper. The tavern is weathered, and the tree feels like it's clawing at the sky. See how he captures the texture of the building by layering the graphite in different directions? The tiny marks are all so deliberate! There’s a raw, almost outsider art quality to Lehmann’s work, kind of like Forrest Bess, who went his own way no matter what. I can feel the influence of artists past, too. Like, maybe he looked at some of the German Expressionist’s landscapes. Every artist is in a conversation with their predecessors. And the way they all build on each other’s ideas–it keeps the whole painting thing alive!