The Death of Nana 1915

Charles Demuth made 'The Death of Nana' with watercolor in 1915, and you can see how the wetness of the medium lends itself to the subject. It’s a scene, maybe a cafe, or something theatrical – and the washes of color seep and spread like a memory. Look at how Demuth used the watercolor. It's so fluid, the colors bleed into each other, creating these soft, undefined edges. It's as if the scene is dissolving before our eyes, or maybe it's just a memory, fading around the edges. The palette is a range of browns, oranges and purples, which are quite muted. But the way he layers them, you get a sense of depth. And you can see where he's let the colors mix on the paper, creating these beautiful, unexpected tones. But, Nana’s death? Hard to say. In this painting there are no answers – just more questions. It reminds me of the work of Marsden Hartley, where figuration becomes abstract and vice versa, and the meaning is always just out of reach.