Skyscrapers in Construction, No. 2 1930

John Marin made this etching, "Skyscrapers in Construction, No. 2," using a metal plate to capture a moment of urban flux. Look at how the lines aren't just describing, they're also kind of feeling out the forms. The textures are amazing; you can almost feel the rough, unfinished surfaces of the buildings. The lines are so immediate, scratchy and raw, they remind me of Cy Twombly, but with buildings instead of mythology. See how some lines are darker, cutting into the paper, while others are faint, barely there? That variation gives the whole image a vibrating energy. Take the left-most building, for instance. The hatching marks create a sense of volume, but they also keep the structure open, like it's breathing. For me, this piece is like a love letter to the messy, chaotic process of building something new, and that’s the spirit that makes art sing across time.