Woman's Slipper c. 1937

Ann Gene Buckley made this painting of a Woman's Slipper, but when? The colors are muted, dark blues and tans, and pinks – it looks like gouache. The effect is flat, but very descriptive. The image is naive, in that it is carefully observed, but doesn’t follow rules of perspective or proportion. I feel the artist was really trying to capture something, trying to get it right. She really lingered on the decorative motifs and embellishments. You can see her hand in the details, her patience. Imagine her making this, carefully applying each layer of paint, trying to bring it to life on the page. This feels like an act of love. Maybe she painted her own slippers, or maybe her mother's slippers? In any case, Buckley has left us a small gem of devotion and affection to savor. These quiet works are always the most telling.