Grain Shovel 1937

Eugene Bartz made this drawing of a Grain Shovel, and what strikes me about it is the way the grain of the wood is represented. It feels so tactile, almost like I could run my fingers along the surface. I imagine Bartz, pencil in hand, carefully studying this everyday object. Did he think about the farmer who used it? The weight of the grain it once carried? The simple act of depicting an object, even one as humble as a grain shovel, becomes an act of reverence. It's like those Morandi bottles, you know? I wonder if he was inspired by artists like Van Gogh, who found beauty in the mundane. There's a quiet dignity to this drawing, a celebration of the beauty and functionality of rural life. It reminds us that art can be found in the most unexpected places. That artists are in conversation, even when they don't know it.