Dimensions: overall: 60.1 x 45.7 cm (23 11/16 x 18 in.) Original IAD Object: 91 1/2"high; 46 3/4"w; 24 1/4"deep
Copyright: National Gallery of Art: CC0 1.0
Elisabeth Fulda made this watercolor of a highboy, a tall chest of drawers, sometime in the 20th century. It's a beautiful, straightforward rendering, but with just enough wabi-sabi charm to make it sing. There's a kind of loving attention to detail in the rendering of the wood grain and the ornate carving. The surface is quite flat, and the paint has a delicate, almost translucent quality. It's hard to tell exactly what kind of brushes Fulda used, but I imagine she might have liked a small, fine brush for the details and a slightly larger one for the broader areas. The way she handles the shadows along the side really brings out the shape of the piece as a whole. I'm also drawn to the handles on the drawers. It reminds me a bit of some of the Shaker artists who would paint furniture—there's a similar kind of reverence for the object. You know, art's just an ongoing conversation, an exchange of ideas across time.
Be the first to comment and join the conversation on the ultimate creative platform.