Untitled 1962

Seymour Lipton made this untitled charcoal drawing on paper in 1963. Look at the marks, how direct and unfussy they are, it's like he’s feeling his way through the subject, almost like a sculptor working with clay. The charcoal feels thick, doesn’t it? Like you could almost reach out and feel the texture of it on the page. It’s so dense in some areas, creating these dark, shadowed pockets, and then lighter in others, giving the form a sense of depth. I love the way he uses these quick, jagged lines to build up the shapes. See how they intersect and overlap? It’s like he's wrestling with the form, trying to capture its essence through this energetic process. And that signature, almost an afterthought, scrawled in the corner. Lipton was primarily a sculptor, and you can see that sculptural sensibility in this drawing. There's a similar energy in the drawings of Franz Kline, though Kline’s are more gestural and abstract. Both seem to embrace the process of art making, they aren't aiming for perfection, but for something more alive.