Mussolini Visits Spain 1940

Beatrice Mandelman made this drawing of a dark subject with graphite on paper. It’s all in shades of grey, and the marks create a feeling of heaviness, like maybe the scene itself was shrouded in shadow. Looking at this drawing, I think about the artist, Mandelman, and what it might have been like for her to make this work. I imagine her, charcoal in hand, pressing hard on the paper, almost like she's digging into it. What was she thinking when she made this? The texture of the graphite gives the whole image a grainy feel, which emphasizes the subject's gravity and the artist's feelings. There's a form, like a dark, looming figure that’s hunched over, and then another form on the ground. It’s a heavy drawing. It’s not trying to be pretty. Artists are in an ongoing conversation, inspiring one another's creativity through time. Painting, drawing - these are embodied expressions that are open to interpretation, allowing for many meanings, not just one.