Hooked Rug c. 1936

This Hooked Rug was made by Barnes, who lived from 1855 to 1995. Imagine her in the studio carefully placing each brushstroke to build this composition. The artist has used a mosaic of small marks to render the image. The color is really striking, with bold reds, oranges, and purples dominating the canvas. I can imagine Barnes working intuitively, letting the image emerge through a process of trial and error. I wonder what the artist was thinking as she created this image? Maybe she was inspired by the work of the pointillists like Seurat, who also used small dots of color to create larger images. Or maybe she was just having fun, experimenting with the possibilities of paint and color. Ultimately, painting is an ongoing conversation, with artists constantly responding to and inspiring one another. And in this Hooked Rug, we can see Barnes adding her own unique voice to that conversation. It's a painting that invites us to slow down, look closely, and appreciate the many ways that art can help us see and experience the world.