Autumn Haze

Autumn Haze
From the Lost Drawings Series by Peter Bogdanov
Graphite on toned paper (early 1990s, figure drawing class)
In “Autumn Haze,” Peter Bogdanov captures a fleeting moment between two figures—quietly connected, yet each absorbed in their own gravity. The drawing, made during one of his early figure drawing classes, features a seated female model and a male figure positioned in front of her, slightly bent forward as if reaching for something unseen. It’s not dramatic. It’s not staged. It’s simply true.
The woman rests with effortless stillness, her posture curved and grounded. The man—angled, slightly off-balance—leans forward mid-motion, like he’s caught between an action and a thought. Their bodies never touch, but the space between them hums with unspoken narrative. It could be tension. It could be care. It could be nothing more than the choreography of a shared pose. But it feels like something.
Bogdanov’s pencil work is soft, spare, and atmospheric. The tones drift like warm light through dusty windows, giving the piece its name—“Autumn Haze.” There’s no rush in the lines, no harsh outlines—just the suggestion of bodies in space, seen by a young artist learning to feel more than he was taught to see.
The original was among the many drawings lost in the 2024 hurricanes that destroyed Bogdanov’s Florida archive. Thankfully, a high-resolution scan was preserved, saving this tender scene from being erased by time.
To collect “Autumn Haze” is to step into a classroom where something deeper than instruction is unfolding. A drawing not just of forms—but of pause, gesture, and that soft in-between where stories silently begin.