Hopi Indian, Polacca, Arizona 1920

Mahonri Young’s drawing, Hopi Indian, Polacca, Arizona, is a portrait in sanguine crayon on paper. There’s such a tenderness in the way Young captures the sitter’s likeness. The reddish-brown crayon marks feel incredibly direct, like the artist is thinking through the form, right there on the page. The network of lines builds into a compelling image. See how Young uses a denser concentration of marks around the eyes and brow to create shadow and give the face depth. Then, he uses much lighter, sketchier lines for the hair and neck. I love the way the color of the paper warms the whole image. This complements the sitter’s skin tone and gives the drawing a kind of radiant glow. This reminds me of the drawings of Käthe Kollwitz, who also used a limited palette and expressive mark-making to convey emotion. Ultimately, the drawing has a beautiful, quiet intensity. It’s a reminder that art is an ongoing conversation across time. It's about embracing ambiguity, open to many interpretations.