The Shambles 1929

James N. Rosenberg made this drawing, The Shambles, in November 1929, probably with charcoal or graphite. Look at those swirling lines and smudged shadows, they suggest a world in turmoil, rendered with an urgency that speaks to artmaking as a kind of frantic transcription. The material aspects here are stark; it’s all about the grainy texture of the paper fighting with the slippery darkness of the medium. See how the artist uses hatching to build up form, especially in the looming buildings, but then dissolves into loose scribbles as we move toward the foreground crowd. The way the figures morph into skulls reminds me that art doesn't have to be precise to be potent. It's more about the feeling, the raw emotion. That scrawled "NY Stock Yards" sign amidst the chaos is a particularly evocative detail. Rosenberg's work reminds me of artists like George Grosz, who used similar expressive techniques to critique society. Art is always a conversation, isn't it? A back-and-forth across time, where meanings shift and settle like sediment.