Bandbox c. 1939

Gilbert Sackerman painted this bandbox, a small storage container, sometime in the 20th century, using what looks like watercolor or gouache. What strikes me is the immediate and informal approach to mark making. It's art that doesn’t fuss too much, it dives right in. The pigment has a delightful chalky opacity, especially in that luscious blue ground, and is applied quite directly. It's not overworked, and you can sense the artist deciding, right there on the surface, what to do next. I love how some areas of the bandbox peek through the paint layer. The painting isn't precious, but a kind of relaxed, almost slapdash application, a bit like Morandi maybe. Look at the house on the left and how it melts into the background; it seems to have a life of its own. This piece reminds me that painting is essentially an act of continuous discovery. Like Fairfield Porter, Sackerman finds grace in the everyday.