Pa. German Bride's Hat Box c. 1940

George File made this watercolor of a Pennsylvania German Bride's Hat Box sometime in the 20th century. What strikes me is how File's mark-making feels like a kind of translation, like he’s not just representing, but rethinking the original object through drawing. Look at the way the green, almost mossy color, is applied in these thin washes. You can really see the grain of the paper coming through, especially on the box’s side, and it gives the image a sort of ghostly, delicate feel. The little V shapes, and the zig-zag pattern, scratched out on the side of the box, feel so tentative, so human. This piece reminds me of Agnes Martin, who also worked with pale colors in delicate lines, creating a similar emotional response in the viewer. Like Martin’s work, File’s Bride's Hat Box offers us a way of seeing, and thinking about the world that embraces ambiguity.