Capri 1914

Elihu Vedder made this drawing of Capri with graphite and pastel on paper. Oh, I love these kinds of drawings that are so light and yet so full of information! You can see Vedder's hand moving quickly, trying to capture the light, the colors, and the volume of the landscape. I can imagine him sitting there, trying to make marks that come close to the feeling of being in that place. What was it like for him, in that moment of creation? I love the way he uses pastel to give us just enough color to understand the tone of the place, the kind of sun-baked earthiness of the buildings, the lushness of the trees. There are even little bits of color scribbled at the bottom of the image, almost like he was testing out different tones. It reminds me that we're all looking at each other's art all the time. I bet Vedder was thinking of other artists when he made this, just like I'm thinking of him now. Art-making is a conversation across time, and it's never really finished.