Landskab med palmer, Cannes 1939

Edvard Weie made this drawing, titled Landskab med palmer, Cannes, with pencil on paper. Look at the way Weie lets us peek behind the curtain of artmaking. The image is like a ghost of a landscape. You can almost feel the sun, but the lines are so light, the forms so open, that the image feels provisional. See the mark-making on the left side of the work? This feels different, more chaotic and accidental than the rest of the composition. This mark bleeds out like an aura. I’m reminded of Picasso's quick sketches, or even Cy Twombly’s more frenetic line drawings. But Weie’s piece has a quieter, almost melancholic feel. It's a study, but it also feels complete, like a fleeting moment captured on paper, more about the act of seeing and feeling than describing.