Hiddensee I 1927

This picture, Hiddensee I, was made by Alexander Kanoldt in the early 1920s using pencils or graphite. The whole thing is built out of line—like a meditation on perspective and form. Look at the slopes in the foreground. The artist really seems to be looking for the shapes of the ground, the roof tops, and then far out, the coastline. I bet he went back and forth, squinting at the scene, then at the paper. There’s something cool about how all the buildings are angled slightly differently, as if dancing or leaning into each other. The composition is solid and satisfying. The tone is quiet, but intense, full of this sustained looking, a conversation across time.