Study of Hands 1909

Edwin Howland Blashfield made this study of hands on paper, and what strikes me is how the spareness of the materials allows the drawing to breathe. The artist captures the hands in various states of action – reaching, grasping, or simply resting. I am drawn to the arm that extends from the center, almost like a soft blurred memory. The sketch is built up using soft, smudgy lines that give it a ghostly feel. You can almost feel the artist circling round, trying to pin down the essence of each gesture. The texture reminds me of charcoal dust dancing on the page. It’s like seeing a sculptor thinking aloud in lines, and that kind of searching, open-ended approach to art making always gets me excited. It makes me think of other artists who focus on hands, like Rodin, maybe because art is a conversation that stretches out over time. It's never about having the last word, but keeping the dialogue going.