Iron Railing c. 1936

Samuel Fineman made this drawing of an iron railing, and though undated, he lived from 1855 to 1995 so we know he made it sometime in those years. I can just imagine Fineman leaning over a large sheet of paper with his pencil, carefully building up the image. It's all about observation and transcription. He's got to think about how each leaf, each vine, each bunch of grapes casts a shadow. He is making a record of something he has seen. There is such a sense of pleasure that comes when you sit still, look, and draw a thing in the world. You see more clearly the thing itself and the world it inhabits. Each mark he makes is a decision based on close looking. There’s something so direct about that process. The steady hand of the draughtsman, just like the painter, connects us to the world.