The setting sun 1925

Konstantin Bogaevsky made this drawing of "The Setting Sun" with what looks like graphite on paper, and right away, I'm seeing this incredible radiating energy. The mark-making here feels urgent, like he’s chasing the light as it bursts and fades. Looking closer, you can almost feel the texture of the paper through the varying pressure of the graphite. See how some lines are bold and assertive, while others are whisper-thin, barely there? It's like the drawing is breathing, expanding and contracting with the light itself. Focus on that central burst. The rays aren’t perfectly uniform; they flicker, and stutter, giving the sun this almost volatile, alive presence. It reminds me a little of some of the visionary landscapes of someone like Caspar David Friedrich, but with this unique, almost explosive quality. Ultimately, it's this embrace of ambiguity, this willingness to let the drawing exist in a state of becoming, that makes it so compelling.