Wood Carving 1935 - 1942

This drawing of a Wood Carving was made by Clyde L. Cheney, though the date is unknown. It gives me a sense of the artist’s process, the way he builds up form with such care and precision. Look at how the wood grain is rendered with such subtle gradations of tone. It really speaks to the materiality of the piece. I can almost feel the texture of the wood, the way it might feel cool and smooth to the touch. The leaves are meticulously arranged, each one individually articulated with delicate lines, and the fruit have this lovely, almost luminous quality. For me, this piece feels like a cousin to the work of Charles Demuth, with its focus on simple forms and careful attention to detail. Both artists share a certain clarity of vision, a desire to distill the world down to its essential elements. And like Demuth, Cheney invites us to see the world anew, to find beauty in the ordinary and wonder in the everyday.