Shaker Spiral Staircase c. 1938

George V. Vezolles made this watercolour drawing of a Shaker Spiral Staircase, and what strikes me is the simple palette, almost monochrome with the browns, creams, and reds. I imagine him, in a quiet room, trying to capture the feeling of the wood. There's something so beautiful in the way the handrail curls around, beckoning you to climb. Each step, a deliberate mark, building up a sense of depth and movement. The lines are confident, precise, like he's tracing something already there. It's a quiet drawing, contemplative. Thinking about how each step rises from the other reminds me of Agnes Martin's grids, how she'd make these very subtle shifts in tone and weight that somehow communicated a feeling of boundlessness. This staircase drawing is equally modest and equally ambitious. Both artists show us that simplicity can be profound, that less really can be more.