Cast Iron Andiron c. 1941

This is an extraordinary drawing of a cast iron andiron by Milton Grubstein. The overall palette is tonal, and the marks seem to be constructed using graphite or charcoal. I’m thinking about Grubstein making this image. I can imagine him working slowly and carefully, trying to understand the weight of the object, its stillness. I wonder if he wanted to render its sense of monumentality – to feel the full weight of history pressing down, like a memorial. It feels like he is trying to memorialize an object. The drawing has a photographic quality. Look how he uses shading to build the image, almost like stippling to give the surface a stony texture. Yet I can also feel his hand, smudging the surface, pushing and pulling to find the form. This reminds me of Vija Celmins’ drawings of stones, or even Jasper John’s drawings of everyday objects. It is very poignant.