Sttudy of figure of 6 pm, for The Hours mural at the State Capitol building in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 1992

Edwin Austin Abbey made this figure study in pencil as part of his process for creating a mural at the State Capitol building in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The figure emerges from a ground of diagonal marks, shifting and solidifying through touch and intuition. I imagine Abbey in his studio, circling the page, building up the form with graphite, a little nervous, maybe, about getting it right. What was it like to make such a figure? The weight of classical tradition, combined with the freedom of a sketch. You can see how he modeled the form using a kind of hatching, building up the darks to give the figure volume, pushing and pulling until it feels right. The few red marks are like whispers, suggesting warmth and life. This study feels very different from the final mural, but it contains a germ of the idea, a fleeting glimpse of something powerful and timeless. Like all artists, Abbey was in conversation with the art of the past, translating it for his own time and place. In the end, all paintings are embodied expressions, embracing ambiguity and allowing for multiple interpretations.