Sacristy Door c. 1936

Geoffrey Holt made this drawing of a Sacristy Door with an unknown medium sometime in the 20th century. It’s like a dance of lines and tones, all working together to define these architectural forms. The rendering is so precise, it feels almost scientific, yet the artist's hand is evident in the subtle variations of tone. I love the way Holt uses the materiality of the medium to describe the grain of the wood, its surface almost glowing with reflected light. There's this one little spot on the central panel, right at eye level, where the pigment pools ever so slightly, and it's like a tiny window into the artist's process. Holt reminds me a bit of Agnes Martin, in the sense of how both artists share an interest in structure and clarity, but with a keen awareness of the expressive potential of simple lines. Art is always talking to art; it’s never really done.