Landscape c. early to mid 20th century

Here's a landscape made by Marsden Hartley with graphite on paper. Look at how he’s built up this massive form with all these little hatchy marks – it's like he’s almost caressing the paper, feeling his way around the shape. I can imagine Hartley out there with his sketchpad, squinting at the light, trying to capture the essence of this place. The thing about drawing, especially with graphite, is that it’s so direct. You can really feel the pressure of the hand, the drag of the graphite on the paper. Each mark builds on another, almost like a conversation. Think about Cézanne and the way he constructed his landscapes with these little facets of color. It's like Hartley is channeling that same energy here. Drawing is a way of seeing, a way of thinking, a way of feeling the world. Artists are in an ongoing conversation. They inspire each other to see things in new ways. It is an embodied expression that embraces ambiguity.