Steel Riggers - No. 3 - Bay Bridge 1936

Arthur George Murphy made this drawing, Steel Riggers - No. 3 - Bay Bridge, with graphite on paper. Look at the way the bodies of the two men strain with exertion, as they raise their tools to strike. Can you see the energy rippling through their muscles? I wonder what Murphy was thinking about when he made this drawing. I imagine he was interested in the way the human body can be both strong and vulnerable at the same time. The drawing is made up of many small marks, which together create a sense of movement. See how the artist uses light and shadow to create depth? The graphite is applied in such a way as to give the image a soft, almost dreamlike quality. The history of art is a long conversation and a call and response, each artist building on the work of those who came before. I can see echoes of Diego Rivera, and other social realist painters of the period in this image.