Night Cap c. 1938

Herbert Marsh made this pencil drawing, Night Cap, at an unknown date. The wispy, delicate lines feel like a fleeting thought, a whisper of an image rather than a declaration. It’s like Marsh is feeling his way around the form, tentatively mapping out the landscape of lace and fabric. The texture is almost palpable, you can almost feel the soft cotton and intricate needlework. The barely-there shading gives the cap a ghostly presence. Look at how the lace seems to float, a delicate veil between us and the solid world. It's a bit like Agnes Martin's work, in that quiet, meditative way, but with a domestic intimacy that's all Marsh's own. It’s this kind of quiet observation, this gentle probing, that makes art so endlessly fascinating. There's no fixed meaning, just a space for us to wander and wonder.