Iron Gate and Fence c. 1936

This drawing of an iron gate and fence was made by Lucien Verbeke, likely with graphite and watercolor. I’m imagining the artist hunched over the paper, carefully rendering the details of the ironwork. Look at the way the light falls on the metal, how Verbeke captures the way the curves and lines create a sense of depth and solidity. You can almost feel the cool, hard surface of the iron. I wonder if Verbeke was a metalworker himself? There's a real sense of intimacy with the material here, and that comes through. The cross perched on top of the gate – is it marking a boundary between worlds? There's something so poignant about the way these artists find beauty and meaning in the everyday, transforming the mundane into something extraordinary. It makes me think of the way Agnes Martin used to talk about finding perfection in the simple grid.