Restoration Drawing Wall Painting and Door, Facade Mission House 1941

Cornelius Christoffels made this watercolor drawing of a mission house facade, door, and wall sometime in the early 20th century. The palette feels sun-baked, aged, like it’s been sitting out in the desert air for a while. I like the way Christoffels has handled the surface of the wall, with its soft washes of color and visible texture. It’s not quite photorealistic, but you can almost feel the roughness of the stucco. The way the light hits the door creates a sense of depth and invites you to step right in. Notice the folk art touches above the door, those little sun-like decorations. They are so simple but so full of life. You can see that someone really cared about this place. It reminds me a little of Marsden Hartley, the way he found these emblems of Americana and imbued them with such weight and meaning. Art is always a conversation between artists, across time, across styles, it’s a constant exchange of ideas and perspectives. The best art embraces ambiguity and multiple interpretations.