Drawing [D88] 1948

Morris Louis made this ink drawing, dating from his unknown period, on paper. It's a flurry of lines and enigmatic shapes. I imagine Louis hunched over the paper, the pen dancing across the surface in a frenzy. Look at how he scratches those marks, almost like he's trying to dig into the paper, revealing some hidden layer beneath. There’s a figure, or maybe two, entangled with these abstract forms—a seated person and a standing ballerina. Louis was, of course, deeply engaged with color, but here, in the absence of it, he seems to be exploring the very essence of form and movement, like he's channeling Picasso or de Kooning. It's as if he’s saying, "Let's strip it all down, and see what we're left with." It’s a reminder that artists are always in conversation, borrowing, stealing, and transforming ideas across time. They create new ways of seeing the world.