Houses at a Street Corner c. 1930

Abraham Walkowitz made this drawing of houses at a street corner with graphite on paper. It is like he is thinking, "I'm going to create a feeling, a kind of mood." He's working with subtle tonal gradations, and those grainy marks are really active and alive. I wonder if Walkowitz ever felt alone? Maybe he walked these streets, drawing, and that's how he worked through things? I feel for him. It's like the drawing captures a place that is both there and not there. Graphite has this way of being so soft, and like, disappearing. It's a little haunting. Walkowitz was part of this amazing generation of artists like John Marin, Marsden Hartley, and Georgia O’Keeffe. They were all finding new ways to see the world. And that's what makes art so special. It is a conversation between artists, across time, about how to be alive.