Innkeeper's Daughter c. 1938

George File made this wonderful watercolor, “Innkeeper’s Daughter,” sometime in the 20th century. The approach to color and mark making is striking, almost folksy, but not quite. The artist's hand feels present, almost vulnerable, like a window into the messy, complicated process of making art. The material qualities here, the textures and surfaces, they tell a story, don't they? Those big, open eyes are almost unnerving. The mark making is so deliberate, and the paint seems carefully applied, almost thin in places, which gives the whole thing this ghostly quality. It’s like looking at a memory of a painting. I’m drawn to how the bright yellow of the dress contrasts with the raw pink of the cheeks, a tension, a question. File reminds me a bit of Red Grooms, both share this love for the theatrical, the quirky, and the slightly unhinged. Ultimately, it’s a painting that embraces ambiguity.