Writing Table and Desk 1935 - 1942

This ‘Writing Table and Desk’ by Henry Meyer, maybe in the mid-20th century, is executed with some kind of watercolour paint, maybe gouache, on paper. Look at the way the red watercolor bleeds and pools, leaving these gorgeous, uneven textures. There’s something beautifully awkward about it, like the artist is figuring out form in real-time, pushing and pulling the paint, almost coaxing the image out of the paper, rather than simply rendering it. Notice the confident dark red outline and the lighter red areas that define the planes of the table. It’s these subtle shifts in color that give the form its weight. This is a drawing after all, but the paint lends it a kind of gravity, a sense of presence that transcends the simple outline. The spirit of someone like Forrest Bess, another visionary artist, comes to mind, for the raw, uncompromising quality, and for the way it seems to insist on its own existence, regardless of prevailing trends or expectations. Like all great art, it’s open to interpretation, forever inviting us to bring our own experiences and perspectives to the table.