Burlesque Theatre, Times Square c. early 1940s

Edward Hopper made this drawing of a Burlesque Theatre in Times Square, using a pretty standard graphite stick. I can almost hear the scratching sound of Hopper’s process, of building the architecture up through layers and rubbings, and the scraping back with an eraser. The composition is a balancing act: the light is holding up the dark. What might he have been thinking, looking up from the audience to the stage? The drawing feels almost like a stage set, a backdrop to other things. I wonder if he saw the drawing as finished or as a study for something else. For me, drawing is thinking. I wonder if, for Hopper, the act of drawing became a way to think through a composition. There’s something very searching about the mark-making here, that reminds me of Agnes Martin’s graphite drawings or even Cy Twombly. Artists are always inspiring each other, working in this ongoing conversation. It's such a beautiful thing to be a part of, like being inside someone else's mind.