Choir Rail 1939

William Kieckhofel’s drawing of a choir rail features repetitive marks of colored pencil on paper. I wonder if the scale, ‘1 1/2" to 1',’ was annotated before or after the work was completed? There’s something so quiet and steady about this image. I feel like I can hear the soft scratch of the pencil as it moves across the page. Kieckhofel is calmly observing as he recreates the object in front of him. The repetition of the spindles with little red flowers makes me think of Agnes Martin or maybe some of the quieter moments in Guston. I imagine him carefully rendering each wooden element, noting the subtle variations in texture and tone. The flowers down the centre of each spindle add a touch of gentle ornamentation. It makes me wonder if those were added later, a flourish of pure decoration. It’s all about craft, care, and the quiet observation of the everyday. It's about looking at the world closely, and then rendering what you see with the humblest of materials.