Dunes near Palm Springs, California (no.2)
1934
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
1934
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Dunes near Palm Springs, California (no.2) is a 1934 ink by George Elbert Burr, held at National Gallery of Art.
This sketch shows a quiet desert scene with rolling sand dunes in the foreground. The dunes have a few scraggly plants clinging to them, and the sand looks soft and shifting. In the background, there’s a distant mountain range with jagged peaks, all drawn in a single brownish-black tone. The artist used a drypoint technique—scratching lines into a metal plate to create texture. This method makes the sand look almost three-dimensional, with tiny marks mimicking wind patterns. Look up technique: drypoint to see how artists use it to create similar effects.
