Mirror c. 1937

Frances Lichten made this watercolour drawing of a mirror, though we don't know exactly when. Lichten's mark-making here feels deliberate, controlled, not exactly loose, but definitely confident. I love the way the colours are so soft, almost faded, giving it this antique, dreamlike quality. The mirror itself is just a smudge of grey, but that's enough. You can almost see your own reflection blurring into the past. There's a lot going on in this image, from the two ladies holding the frame, to the American flag and obelisk at the bottom. It's a decorative piece that is so packed with detail. It reminds me a bit of some of the folk art that was happening at the time, this sense of trying to capture something real, but it ends up being more like a memory. Like Joseph Yoakum, another artist who blended real and imagined landscapes, Lichten invites us into a world that feels both familiar and strange. And that's what art is all about, isn't it? Holding up a mirror to the world, but seeing something completely new.