The Docks 1935

Charles Wheeler Locke made "The Docks" with graphite on paper, and it's a moody number isn’t it? A busy harbour scene, all greys and blacks, smoke in the sky, and the Brooklyn Bridge in the background. I can imagine Locke, hunkered down, his brow furrowed, carefully crafting each line, each shadow, each detail. He's not splashing paint but layering graphite, building depth slowly, trying to capture a particular time. Those men on the docks, they’re caught between labour and leisure, suspended in the haze of the city and the grit of the waterfront. There's a quiet dignity in Locke's approach. It puts me in mind of other American scene painters, but there’s something distinct in the way he handles tone – it's like he's not just showing us what's there, but also what it feels like to be there. What it felt like to him! Artists like Locke remind us that art can be a way to slow down, to really look at the world, and to share that vision with others.