Eagle c. 1940

Milton Grubstein made this drawing of an eagle, and although we don’t know exactly when, we can see a real labor of love in the mark making. Look at the way he’s built the form of the bird with thousands of tiny strokes, it’s like a form of pointillism, but without the color. Each little mark must have been made with real care and consideration. In many ways, the medium becomes the message, the marks don't just describe the eagle, they *are* the eagle. I find it fascinating how Grubstein is able to make an image with so much impact using just pencil on paper, there’s an ambiguity to the texture that our imaginations fill in. I’m put in mind of Vija Celmins, who has a similar attentiveness to tone. I guess what I'm trying to say is that there’s more than one way to make a painting without using paint.