Flat Iron Stand c. 1942

Donald Harding made this watercolour of a Flat Iron Stand, and what strikes me is the way he used the medium to capture the textures of the iron itself. It’s all about surface, you know? The color palette in the piece is a study in brown – a range of hues that manage to evoke the weight and history of the object. The transparency of the watercolor allows the light to interact with the paper beneath, giving a gentle glow to the metal, while also making the whole image feel airy. I'm drawn to the looped handle on the right – it's rendered with such care, the artist seems to have savored its shape, letting the watercolor pool in certain areas to suggest depth and dimension. Maybe it’s like Morandi, but with domestic objects instead of bottles. It’s Harding’s focus on the everyday that makes this piece so charming.