Men Roping a Bull and Driving Cattle, Tomb of Djari 2050 BC

This is "Men Roping a Bull and Driving Cattle," from the Tomb of Djari, it has a wonderful sense of rhythm and the everyday, doesn't it? The artist uses a restrained palette, focusing on line and form. It's all about capturing movement and energy, and how these guys managed unruly animals, it’s amazing to think of the process behind this image, the careful observation and translation of a lived experience into a graphic form. I love the contrast between the dynamic energy of the men roping the bull and the gentle, slow pace of the cattle below. There's a real sense of texture in the shading of those cows. Notice that the artist chose to render the bull with only simple outlines, suggesting its wild, untamed nature. To me this work has echoes of Guston's simple forms, in the way it balances abstraction and figuration. It reminds us that art is really about exploring and interpreting the world around us.