Untitled (Oil and Gas Tanks, Industrial Complex) c. 1935

This drawing of oil and gas tanks by Paul Winchell captures an industrial complex in shades of grey. You can almost feel the artist’s hand moving carefully, building form through tiny, precise marks. It must have taken him a long time, and he’s been so patient. Imagine Winchell, standing there, maybe on a cold day, squinting at all this geometry. I wonder what he thought about while he was drawing. Did he think about Cezanne, like when Cezanne painted the industrial landscape of L’Estaque? It’s a funny thing about painting, right? Or drawing, it’s a kind of thinking, and it’s also kind of dumb, like just really spending time with something, staring at it, until something shifts. I feel a real sympathy for Winchell, and for all artists trying to capture something real. They’re all in conversation with one another, across time, riffing and building on each other's ideas, so that, with every artwork, the conversation continues.