Hog Island. The Caldron 1918

Thornton Oakley made this graphite on paper drawing called 'Hog Island. The Caldron’ and it feels like a real feat of observation. You can feel the artist’s hand moving across the paper, trying to capture all that activity, all that industry. I can imagine Oakley standing there, probably getting in the way, trying to capture the scale of it all! The delicate graphite lines create a powerful sense of depth and space; it’s a delicate rendering of a monumental scene. I imagine he had to be quick and precise, like a court stenographer translating gestures into marks. I wonder if he found the chaos and the smoke overwhelming, but kept going, determined to turn the scene into art. There's something very satisfying in how the artist manages to turn something so practical and architectural into a moving drawing. When artists draw or paint, they keep the conversation going across time.