Untitled (Racetrack) c. 1930s

Arnold Friedman created this unnamed image of a racetrack with what looks like pencil or charcoal. You can really feel the hand of the artist in this drawing! Looking at the grandstand above the crowd, I imagine Friedman sitting there observing the race. He would be holding his breath as he rapidly captured the scene. I wonder if the crowd was so loud that he couldn't hear his own thoughts. I think the stippling effect creates a vibrating energy that gives the sense of a crowd and the thunderous hooves of the horses. It must have been a very exciting event! The dark shading on the top contrasts with the pale field, with a frieze of silhouettes just beneath. There is such a great sense of space in the drawing, with the figures of horses and their jockeys becoming smaller and fainter as they recede into the distance. I like that Friedman is part of a long lineage of artists inspired by the racetrack.