Branding Iron c. 1942

Elizabeth Johnson made this watercolor painting of a branding iron, date unknown. It's the everyday turned into something kind of monumental, wouldn’t you say? The way Johnson’s laid down these washes feels so matter-of-fact, like she's just reporting on what's there. See how the colors shift and blend? The browns and blues give the metal a weathered, almost heroic quality. It reminds me of the kind of straightforwardness you find in folk art. There's no hiding, no fancy brushwork, just a clear-eyed look at this object. That thin, pale outline of the brand to the left is interesting to me. It’s almost like a ghost of the brand, or a blueprint. This feels so connected to the history of representation, and documentation. It’s like Johnson is saying, this is real, this is what it is, but also, here's how it exists on the page. It’s a humble painting but it has this quiet power. Like the paintings of Fairfield Porter, documenting American life.