Andiron (one of pair) c. 1937

Hans Korsch rendered this drawing of an andiron – one of a pair – with ink on paper. It's a meticulous, precise work. I can’t help but think about Korsch hunched over a desk, the tip of his pen delicately tracing these lines, working out the puzzle of form and function. What was Korsch thinking as he detailed the curlicues and spheres? Was he lost in the rhythm of repetition, or focused on the heat of the fire it would eventually hold? The thin lines have a delicate, almost tentative quality. There's a sense of care and consideration in every stroke. It reminds me of early modernist drawings – the way they combine precision with a kind of quirky expressiveness. I wonder if Korsch was looking at the same sources? Artists are always in conversation, riffing off of each other, building on what came before. Ultimately, drawing, like painting, is a way of seeing and understanding the world, one line at a time.