Sugar Chest c. 1937

Harry Jennings made this watercolor, "Sugar Chest," sometime in the 20th century, and what strikes me is the way he's handled the brown tones. Look at how the color shifts and pools, creating shadows and depth. You can almost feel the grain of the wood. It's that push and pull between representation and abstraction that gets me going. And then, off to the side, this ghostly sketch, like the chest is haunted by its own potential, an idea still in formation. It reminds me of Guston's late work, where objects have a cartoonish solidity, but also a kind of psychic weight. It’s like Jennings is saying, "Here's what it is, but also what it could be." Art isn't just about capturing something, but opening a space for possibility.