New York c. 1915

Abraham Walkowitz made this drawing of New York with ink on paper. It’s all about process, right? The way the ink bleeds and pools on the page feels like a direct record of his hand moving, and I can imagine him working quickly, trying to capture the feeling of the city. There’s something really lovely in the simplicity of the materials. Just ink and paper, but he gets so much depth and texture. Look at the way he’s rendered the buildings. They're built up from tiny dabs of ink. Each mark feels like a little breath, a moment of attention. And those dark, pooling shadows at the base of the buildings almost swallow the crowd. Walkowitz was interested in modern life and urban experience. This piece puts me in mind of Lyonel Feininger, another artist preoccupied with architecture. But where Feininger veers toward the geometric, Walkowitz is all about the organic, the imperfect, the handmade. And that’s what makes it so compelling!