Untitled (#25) 1945 - 1946

This drawing, Untitled #25, was made with graphite on paper by Ronald Bladen. I love the all-overness of it, the way the marks seem to accumulate, not quite descriptive, but full of suggestive forms. The surface is alive with scribbles, circles, and hatching. There's a figure on the left, maybe emerging from a dark mass, and a clock-like shape hovers in the center. The graphite is applied with varying pressure, creating a range of grays and blacks. Look how those looping lines create a sense of movement, almost like a storm brewing. It reminds me of Philip Guston’s late drawings, but Bladen’s touch is lighter, more ethereal. The ambiguity is what I find compelling, how it invites you to project your own narrative onto the image. Drawings like this remind me that art is a conversation, a continuous exchange of ideas, and that meaning is never fixed.