Quill Pens c. 1936

Erwin Schwabe made this drawing of quill pens sometime in the twentieth century with pencil and crayon. I can imagine Schwabe hunched over his desk, carefully rendering the delicate barbs of the feathers and the sharp nib of the pen. What was he thinking, I wonder? Was he remembering a time when these were the tools of communication, or just enjoying the textures and tones? The pens are laid across rectangular shapes, and the paper is a soft grey tone. It reminds me of Morandi, who also spent a lot of time just looking. Schwabe used soft lines and colors to give the image a sense of quiet stillness. I like the slight awkwardness of the composition, it makes the image feel authentic, like a real observation. Artists have a long history of looking and learning from each other. These quiet renderings offer a kind of embodied expression, where the artist's attention and focus become a form of communication, inviting us to slow down and really see.