Brick Factory, Glasco on Hudson c. 1936 - 1940

Mary Adeline McKibbin drew this pencil sketch of a brick factory in Glasco on Hudson. I can imagine McKibbin looking at this factory, maybe on a cold day, and thinking about how to capture the scene. The factory buildings look like solid, quiet forms, while the background hills, with the smoke stack, is suggested with more fluid strokes. The composition has an aerial perspective and the factory roofs are so flat and white, like they’re covered in snow. The drawing feels precise, but when you get closer, you can see McKibbin's hand in the varying pressure of her marks. This kind of architectural drawing reminds me of other artists, like Charles Sheeler and his precisionist paintings of factories. They’re all part of a conversation about how we see and represent the world around us. I think McKibbin and others invite us to look closely at these industrial landscapes and to find beauty in the everyday.