Group of people standing on a corner no date

Curator: William Roberts, born in 1895, made this striking pencil sketch of figures titled, *Group of people standing on a corner*. I am drawn to its formal austerity. What are your first impressions? Editor: The angularity! It feels like a silent protest, perhaps a community disrupted by some unseen force. The raised hands mimic the traffic lights. Curator: Indeed, Roberts often used abstracted figures to explore modern life. Note how the grid underneath lends to its Cubist aesthetic. Editor: Yes, and the figures, almost archetypes, evoke a sense of shared experience beyond the individual. The lampposts morph into symbolic pillars of society. Curator: Roberts' work engages with the psychological impact of modernity, how social structures inform our identities. Editor: I appreciate how this preparatory drawing retains a raw, immediate quality, revealing the artist's process of structuring a scene. It stays with you, doesn't it? Curator: It does. The interplay of form and potential symbolism invites reflection on community resilience.