Two Parrots on a Barren Tree c. 1916

Charles Demuth painted these parrots on a barren tree using watercolor—the kind of medium that lets you layer and layer until the image emerges. I’m thinking about Demuth hovering over this piece, watching the water pool and dry, coaxing these birds into existence. I wonder if he felt a kinship with them, perched there, observing the world with those knowing eyes. They are pretty stylized, right? I love the way the blue feathers are rendered, they have a slight graphic feel. Also, there is this moss-covered bump right beneath them, what's the story with that? It looks like a place you could sit and be quiet, which I'm sure Demuth appreciated. He was pretty ill for much of his life. There’s something about the way artists like Demuth saw the world, that reminds me of other queer artists of the time like Marsden Hartley. They are all in a conversation together, building something new from what came before.