Study For "Auto-Motif #1" c. 1934

Anthony Velonis made this study for Auto-Motif #1 with pencil on paper. You can see the process right there on the page, all the starts and stops, the testing out of different forms. This isn't about hiding the work, it's about laying it bare. The whole image is built from these marks, these lines and smudges that somehow come together to suggest a city street, a car, and people. The texture of the pencil on paper is so present, giving the whole thing a kind of rough-and-ready feel. Look at the way he's rendered the car, all these dark, curving shapes that feel both solid and fleeting. It’s like a memory of a car, not the car itself. Velonis was involved in the WPA's art programs during the Depression, and you can see that spirit here, this idea of art as something accessible, something made with simple materials, something that speaks to everyday life. There's a connection to Stuart Davis in the way he abstracts urban life, but Velonis has his own, very particular, voice. It's a reminder that art is always a conversation, an ongoing exchange of ideas.