Random Nancy Panel

It's instructive to contemplate isolated Nancy panels removed from context and meaning, because again we can appreciate Bushmiller as a sublime modernist composer. The drawing above is a perfect example, a complex interplay of repeated and contrasting diagonals punctuated with a checkmark-shaped bounce of round objects. I love how every single object is fulfilling a formal purpose: observe how the almost architecturally-placed brush and comb serve to balance the opposing diagonals and to reinforce the simple but exact perspective of the scene. Note, too, how Aunt Fritzi's sweat drops act like a set of parentheses with the lines on the mirror. Finally, the open drawer is almost completely illogical, but works on its own terms and seems "right," even though it isn't. Everything in this panel is tightly locked in place, as tight as a Lichtenstein or a Mondrian.