Perugia 

Curator: John Warwick Smith’s drawing, titled Perugia, captures a distant view of the city nestled amongst the rolling hills of Italy. Editor: The sparseness of the lines evokes a sense of calm, like a fleeting memory or half-remembered dream of a place. Curator: Notice how the artist uses hatching and varied line weights to create depth and volume, particularly in the trees and the buildings on the hilltop. It's a study in tonal variation using minimal means. Editor: The church spire prominently punctuates the skyline, drawing the eye upwards, a traditional symbol of spiritual aspiration, but somehow less hopeful here given the work's overall quiet melancholy. Curator: Precisely, the steeple acts as a crucial formal element, anchoring the composition and balancing the horizontal spread of the town. Editor: This drawing lingers in the mind, like a faint echo of past grandeur, perhaps reflecting the artist's own nostalgic gaze. Curator: Indeed, Smith’s Perugia offers a delicate balance between topographical observation and subjective interpretation.