Untitled (Study for "East Barrier") c. 1960

Editor: This is Jack Tworkov’s “Untitled (Study for ‘East Barrier’)” currently residing at the Harvard Art Museums. It looks like charcoal on paper, and the marks are so gestural. What stands out to you? Curator: Look at the labor in those marks, the density and layering. How does the artist’s physical engagement with the charcoal impact the viewer's experience of the 'barrier'? Editor: It feels immediate, like a fleeting moment captured. Curator: Exactly. Now, consider the paper itself, its texture and how it receives the charcoal. Is the 'study' a comment on mass production and consumption? Editor: I hadn't thought of it that way, focusing on the materials themselves. It adds another layer to the meaning. Curator: Precisely. These studies also inform a larger social context about the relationship between the artist's labor and the final artwork.