Hat c. 1940

Hedwig Emanuel rendered these hat designs on paper with graphite and watercolor, and I can just imagine her poised over them. The larger hat in the composition seems to float ethereally. It’s got these delicate ruffles and intricate details that evoke a sense of refined elegance, and I can imagine the society ladies who might have worn it. I wonder if Emanuel imagined these ladies too? Perhaps sketching the hats while thinking of the women who would wear them. Did she imagine them walking in a garden, laughing, and being generally fabulous? The two smaller studies are more schematic, but in their own way, no less charming. All of these renderings feel very contemporary. Emanuel seems to speak to other artists across time, and I can see her influence echoed in the fluid lines of a Matisse or a Hockney.