Waistcoat 1935 - 1942

Curator: Here we have "Waistcoat", a watercolor and ink drawing by Nancy Crimi, made sometime between 1935 and 1942. It offers us a simple, almost stark depiction. What do you make of it initially? Editor: Stark is a perfect word. It's buttoned-up in a very literal way. The color palette and lines evoke a somber formality. The precision almost feels like a constraint rather than freedom, wouldn't you agree? Curator: Absolutely. The vertical stripes converging towards the neck give it a sense of visual rigidity, which can feel a little stiff or somber to me. Yet the slight imperfections of the stripes suggest a delicate handmade quality. I think that juxtaposition between constraint and free movement of hand is part of the mystery in this painting. Editor: And those tiny buttons that descend to the waist are placed evenly in formation adding another structural element. The way the neutral watercolor interacts with the ink gives a depth of color that softens those sharp, potentially hard lines just enough to create warmth in this picture. Almost making it touchable in some regard. Curator: That's an interesting point. Considering the medium and its subject, you'd think the materiality of the drawing might try to suggest a texture like linen, twill or silk but somehow Nancy invites a range of touch for different materials and emotional temperatures through the handling of paint itself. Editor: It makes one question how functional this rendering of a waistcoat truly is. Does it give form and protection, or does it confine the wearer in some way? Perhaps the question lies less in what it offers the body, and more about its presentation. How should someone be seen, buttoned up, presented neatly in this time period? The painting feels like a semiotic key into reading culture itself! Curator: Well said! It becomes an image to decipher how our bodies were trained to enter a world in certain acceptable ways and not others. On the surface we have an everyday article of clothing, but if you lean in closely, a quiet commentary simmers! Editor: Crimi challenges us to think deeper on many fronts! It's a drawing which invites you to not see at first glance. The quiet beauty and bold stripes create so much narrative in its structural being! Curator: Exactly, something both beautifully austere and deeply insightful—definitely a great combination.