Vorstadt VIII 1926

Karl Wiener made this pen and ink drawing, Vorstadt VIII, sometime before 1949. I like the way that Wiener’s style, which is economical, but so clear. You can really see the mark-making process here. Look at the varied textures of the smoke stacks, rendered with such simple hatched lines. Some are blocky, some almost furry, others are neatly bricked, creating an overall sense of industrial variety. The solid blacks are built up slowly, like a meditative practice. The building behind feels unstable, the lines wavering, and the lack of a tonal range creates a flattening effect, that stops it from having a deep perspective. It reminds me of Piranesi’s etchings of prisons, but without the drama, just a dead-pan record of an industrial landscape. It's a kind of drawing that invites us to look closely, and, like all good art, asks more questions than it answers.