Iron Gate and Fence c. 1936

Lucien Verbeke made this drawing of an iron gate and fence, but we don’t know exactly when, or why. The whole piece is rendered in monochrome, a carefully applied wash of grey tones, but notice how Verbeke presents a whole range of options within this self-imposed limitation, in the small detail sketches, like variations on a theme. The delicate linework and light washes really evoke the cool precision of metalwork, the solid permanence of civic architecture. The way he’s marked the perspective, the fall of light, and the subtle gradations of tone give the impression of three-dimensionality and material presence. Look at the bottom right, and the subtle gradations of shadow which imply a vanishing point beyond the edge of the paper. It’s as if he’s taken the architectural drawing and imbued it with the quiet intensity of a Morandi still life. This kind of detailed observation and the ability to evoke a solid object with a few lines puts me in mind of David Hockney, another artist who’s made a life’s work out of looking closely at the world.