Peterhof, the Great Cascade after Restoration 1995

Marianna Leporsky made this drawing of Peterhof, the Great Cascade after Restoration, with pen, ink and watercolour. There's such care in the mark-making here. It's like Leporsky is whispering to the paper, each tiny stroke building up this grand scene. The sepia tones give it an old-world feel, as if we're looking at a faded photograph or a memory. You can almost hear the water trickling in the fountain. I love the way the light catches the wet stone. The reflections are almost abstract, just washes of color and delicate lines. It reminds me that even the most detailed rendering is still made of marks, and that those marks can be so evocative. It’s almost like a Cy Twombly drawing, but instead of ancient graffiti, it’s about architectural precision. It suggests that all forms of drawing are connected, even if they seem worlds apart.