Untitled (building exterior) c. 1950

Robert Burian made this intriguing, untitled photograph of a building exterior, and it’s now housed at the Harvard Art Museums. The first thing that grabs you is the surface. It's like looking through a shattered windshield, isn't it? Those web-like cracks overlaying the somber scene. You can almost feel the texture, that brittle tension between what's seen and what's obscured. The image is stark. The tones are muted, almost monochromatic, and these dark lines make it feel like a memory fading at the edges. It reminds me a bit of Vija Celmins' drawings, that same obsession with texture and surface, but Burian has cranked up the emotional dial. You know, art isn't about answers; it’s about endless questions. What is revealed, what is obscured. It’s a conversation we keep having, with ourselves, with each other, and with the art itself.