Cast Iron Cresting c. 1936

Samuel Faigin made this study of cast iron cresting, on paper, at an unknown date. There’s a crisp directness to the piece, like a technical drawing, but it's also soft and organic. The rusty brown is really doing it for me. The colour has these granular shifts and a build-up of tiny particles that give the surface a real weight and depth. You can almost feel the gritty texture of the metal! It’s as though the artist is trying to capture not just the form but the feel of the object. Look at the little curves at either side! They give the piece a sense of movement, like it could almost take flight. I can imagine Faigin taking inspiration from the world around him, abstracting natural forms into geometric shapes. It reminds me of some of the work of Charles Demuth. Art is an ongoing conversation across time, isn't it?