Dress with Cape Collar 1935 - 1942

Nancy Crimi painted this watercolour, "Dress with Cape Collar", sometime in the 20th century, and it feels like she was really working with the idea of seeing as process. The watercolour is so delicate and the floral design creates this dreamy, soft focus effect. There is a real balance between the precision of the dress's design and the softness of the flowers, with their gentle brushstrokes that almost dissolve into the background. The white cape collar is interesting, it has this lace trim that looks like tiny, repeated brushstrokes, which gives the whole piece a real handmade, tactile feel. It reminds me of Fairfield Porter, who also had this way of finding the extraordinary in the ordinary, focusing on everyday scenes with such care and attention. It’s like Crimi is having a conversation with art history, while making something all her own. Art's not about answers, it's about keeping the conversation going, right?