Windsor Chair 1936

This is Dana Bartlett's painting of a Windsor Chair, made with watercolor on paper. It’s less about capturing a specific chair and more about the act of seeing and recreating. Look closely, and you’ll notice Bartlett’s process in the delicate washes of color. The red-brown hues aren’t just applied, they're built up, layer by layer, giving the chair a warmth that feels almost alive. The paint is thin, transparent, allowing the paper's texture to peek through, adding to the sense of light and airiness. Notice how the back spindles are rendered with such care, each one slightly different, slightly imperfect. It’s in these variations that the painting breathes, revealing the artist’s hand and eye. This piece reminds me a little of Fairfield Porter, who was similarly interested in the beauty of everyday subjects, rendered with a kind of quiet intensity. It’s a conversation across time, this act of looking and painting, a reminder that art is as much about the process as it is about the final image.