Architectural Arch Study with Five Figures c. 1935

Paul Manship made this study with graphite on paper, and it's now held at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. It feels so immediate, so fresh – you can almost see Manship's hand moving across the paper, figuring things out. Look at how he uses line – thin, delicate, but also confident and sure. The figures are built up from these lines, almost like wireframes, giving them a sense of movement and energy. It's like he's capturing a fleeting moment, a dance or a ritual frozen in time. I'm drawn to the way he suggests volume and form with just a few strokes. It reminds me of Matisse's drawings, that same economy of line, that ability to say so much with so little. And like Matisse, Manship seems to be more interested in capturing the essence of the figure rather than a literal representation. It's about the feeling, the gesture, the spirit of the thing. Art, at its best, is an ongoing conversation, a constant exchange of ideas and influences.