Parlor Chair c. 1940

LeRoy Griffith made this drawing of a chair, probably in watercolour, maybe at the beginning of his long life. Look at those curving lines. You know, when you draw a chair, you’re really drawing a person. You’re thinking about how a body occupies space. And this chair is all about elegance. It's got these cute cabriole legs, which splay outwards just so, and that rounded back like a loving embrace. It's all in brown, but not drab – it's warm, inviting, like a cup of cocoa. I like imagining LeRoy sketching away, trying to nail that perfect curve. Did he start with the legs, building up, or did he begin with the back? Each line a decision, a little journey. You know drawing and painting are acts of tender observation. Artists build upon each other’s work, whether they know it or not. LeRoy’s chair nods to a tradition of furniture portraits, which have been explored by so many artists. It's a quiet conversation across time. And now, we are part of it.