Zuni Indian c. 1920s

This image of a Zuni Indian was drawn by Gerald Ira D. Cassidy. It’s a pencil drawing. You can see the push and pull of values; the artist hasn’t fully committed to the darks. Look how the soft application of graphite around the central figure throws our focus onto his face and the hand-carved necklace he wears. There’s such a gentle hatching technique in the face, creating a believable, tangible depiction of skin. It’s like he’s inviting us into a quiet, intimate moment. But then the building behind the man is not quite fully realised, with the artist more interested in the figure in the foreground. There’s something about the softness and the tonality of the drawing that reminds me of Whistler and his etchings of the Thames. It’s more about atmosphere than accuracy. Of course, it could be argued that the artist is more interested in representation than abstraction. But I think it’s more ambiguous than that.