Carved Casing c. 1938

This drawing of a Carved Casing was made by Hans Mangelsdorf, but we're not sure exactly when! It feels like he’s thinking through the process, laying out the image, figuring out the wood and brick textures as he goes. Look at the way Mangelsdorf renders the brickwork of the fireplace and hearth. Each brick is individually described with subtle tonal variations, which contrast with the smoother, more continuous surfaces of the wooden casing. The overall effect of the brickwork is one of warmth, and is a great example of how the material aspects shape our experience. It reminds me a little of some of the architectural drawings of someone like Charles Burchfield, although he’s got a completely different sense of colour. But I think they both share that embrace of ambiguity and multiple interpretations, rather than fixed meanings.