Illustration to 'The crane and heron. Bear.' 1907

Heorhiy Narbut made this illustration to 'The crane and heron. Bear.' with what looks like pen and ink and maybe some kind of printmaking process, it's hard to say for sure. But the way it's put together makes me think about how making art is a series of choices, each mark leading to the next. What I really notice here is the texture. Not just in the bear's fur, which has these amazing scratchy lines, but also in the sky. It's like Narbut found a way to make the ink look like it's breathing. The whole image, with its cool blues and greys, feels both familiar and a bit dreamlike. Look at the little village in the background – it’s almost like a memory. It reminds me a bit of the early work of someone like Agnes Martin. Both artists are playing with simplicity, but also hinting at something deeper. It's a reminder that art is always in conversation, across time and place.