Trees, Bench, Walk 1959

Donald Greason made this drawing, Trees, Bench, Walk, sometime in the mid-20th century using ink on paper. The marks here are so immediate, so fresh – you can sense Greason making decisions on the fly. I love that the palette is so limited. It’s like he grabbed whatever ink was closest and just went for it. Check out how the thin ink washes pool and bleed around the tree. The texture is built up through these layers, giving the trunk a real sense of depth and volume despite the simplicity of the drawing. Then there’s this bench, almost swallowed by the foliage. It’s rendered with such quick, scribbled lines – it almost disappears into the background. This reminds me a bit of some of Fairfield Porter’s plein air sketches. There's a similar casual intimacy. It feels like both artists are just capturing a fleeting moment, an impression of a place, rather than trying to create a definitive statement. Art doesn’t always have to shout; sometimes, it whispers.