Kitchen garden on Obvodny channel 1921

Mstislav Dobuzhinsky made this pen and ink drawing, Kitchen garden on Obvodny channel, and the starkness of it really grabs you, doesn’t it? The scene is built from a thicket of marks, layer upon layer of hatching, that creates an incredible density. Look at the way the barbed wire slices across the scene, practically vibrating with nervous energy. It gives me the shivers. The ground is a flurry of small, quick strokes that create a sense of depth and texture. This kind of mark-making isn't about perfection; it's about the action of drawing itself, the hand moving across the page. And those buildings in the background! They loom like silent giants. You can almost feel the weight of them. Dobuzhinsky’s work reminds me a little of Piranesi, who could also wring so much atmosphere out of black and white. But where Piranesi is grandiose, Dobuzhinsky is more intimate, more personal. It feels like he’s inviting us to share a secret, a glimpse into a world that's both beautiful and unsettling.