Man's Dancing Shoe c. 1936

Ann Gene Buckley made this watercolour painting of a shoe. It’s a beautiful depiction of a decorative shoe in tones of dark red and black, trimmed with gold and ochre. I wonder what it was like for Buckley, to create this image, making careful decisions about colour and tone. There’s something kind of folksy about this object; it has an illustrative quality, and it makes me think of storytelling and fairy tales. It’s a painting of a single object but it reminds me of some of the surrealist paintings of shoes by artists like Joan Miró. The shoe becomes a kind of protagonist, loaded with symbolism. I love the little tassel hanging down at the back. Buckley is clearly interested in decorative objects, in pattern and ornament, and in the stories they might tell us. Painters are in an ongoing conversation, inspiring each other across time. There is something so generous and imaginative about how artists share their vision with us. It’s like an invitation to see the world in a new way.