Patcher breaks sign (Barin at the house of patcher) 1922

Boris Kustodiev made this ink drawing, "Patcher breaks sign," sometime around the turn of the century, and it's all about the power of line. Look at the furious hatching on the figure's coat, the way the lines build up a sense of volume and weight. And then there are the icicles, rendered with the simplest of strokes. It's like he's saying, "I can do all this with just a pen." It reminds me of Philip Guston's late work, where he stripped everything down to the essentials. The whole scene is constructed from these direct, almost brutal marks. The way the ground is marked with horizontal strokes. It gives the piece a real immediacy, like a snapshot of a fleeting moment. You can see the joy in the process, the sheer pleasure of putting pen to paper. It’s a reminder that art doesn't always need to be complicated or precious.