Spectacles c. 1936

This is a drawing of spectacles, made by Frank Nelson, who lived a long life, from 1855 to 1995. Looking at how the graphite delicately models the angles and curves of the spectacles, I can almost feel the artist's hand carefully rendering the intricacies of the frame and lenses. I love how simple the object is, floating in the middle of the page. It makes me think about vision, and how we see the world, and how an artist sees the world, and how the artist helps us see the world. Did Frank wear spectacles himself? What did he see through them? Did those angles and curves help him understand the world better, or did they make it more complicated? I think Frank, like many artists, was in conversation with other artists of his time, and even across time, figuring out how to make sense of our lives and feelings.