Feodosia 1925

Konstantin Bogaevsky made this drawing, Feodosia, with graphite on paper. Looking at this landscape, it feels as though Bogaevsky wanted to capture the essence of a place, its bones. I can imagine him outside, squinting, trying to make sense of the light as it hits each building, each tree. He must have used a sharp pencil, moving swiftly and deliberately, to render the contours of Feodosia. I like how the buildings are kind of huddled together, and those bare trees look so vulnerable. There's a sense of quiet melancholy. This drawing reminds me of other artists who explore the poetics of place, like Giorgio Morandi, who dedicated his life to drawing the same bottles and vases over and over again. There’s a beauty in that repetition, in the attempt to capture something elusive. It's like artists are in conversation across time.