Hill Where Our Lord Fed the Multitude (from Sketchbook) 1904

Mary Newbold Sargent made this pencil drawing, called 'Hill Where Our Lord Fed the Multitude', in a sketchbook at an unknown date. It’s a landscape, but just barely; a few faint lines suggest a hillside and some distant mountains. It feels more like a memory of a place, or a suggestion of one, than a real depiction. Look at the delicacy of the marks. The pencil seems to barely touch the paper, creating a sense of lightness and impermanence. There’s a kind of vulnerability to it, like a whisper. And right there in the middle, almost floating, is the inscription, the title itself, carefully lettered, anchoring the whole thing. For me, that inscription is key. It turns the drawing into something more than just a landscape. It becomes a meditation on faith, on abundance, on the power of simple things to nourish us. The drawing reminds me a little of Agnes Martin's spare landscapes, but with a touch of religious feeling, maybe? It’s a reminder that art doesn’t always have to shout; sometimes, the quietest voices speak the loudest.