Pocket Manicure c. 1939

Alfred Walbeck made this painting of a manicure set without a date, we don’t know when. It’s a modest watercolour, and the approach to the image is modest too. The objects sit on the page, simple and unpretentious. The painting is all about the way the artist pays attention to the surfaces of things. See the burnished light on the metal, the way the wooden handles have a depth of colour, the way he shows the tools are slightly worn and used. The artist is showing us, showing himself, how to really look. It's like he's asking: What does it mean to examine the everyday with such focused attention? There’s a quietness in the objects, and in Walbeck’s gaze. You know, Agnes Martin made drawings and paintings that also had this quietness to them, a similar feeling that things are in their right place. This kind of sensibility in art is so special, it feels really human and hopeful.