Door Knocker c. 1936

This drawing of a Door Knocker was done by Arsen Maralian, though we don’t know exactly when. Look at the confident lines! Maralian’s really trying to get the weight and solidity of this object down on paper, but he’s also using the side of his pencil to get the shading just right. I can almost feel the cool metal in my own hand. I'm thinking about his thought process as he's drawing, how much he is observing, feeling, testing the limits of what a simple pencil can do. I’m thinking he’s maybe trying to translate a three-dimensional object onto a two-dimensional plane. Maybe he's thinking about art school? Technical drawings? Maralian is continuing a long conversation. He's taking part in an ongoing conversation with other artists across time, inspiring new ways of seeing. These drawings allow many perspectives and meanings.