Pilaster with Holy Water-Font & Arch Below Choir Loft c. 1936

Howard H. Sherman made this watercolor, Pilaster with Holy Water-Font & Arch Below Choir Loft, sometime in his lifetime. The gentle palette has a softness that gives the image a dreamlike feeling. There’s a real commitment to a certain way of seeing, and a commitment to the process, too. Sherman isn't afraid to let the paint do its thing. Look at the way the watercolour pools at the base of the pillar, the way he teases out the detail in the stonework with a very fine brush, or the way the arch fades into the background of the painting. It is a picture that doesn’t quite settle, you can feel Sherman working through the different parts of the image. In the context of Sherman's wider body of work, this piece resonates with the artist's interest in architectural detail. You know, it almost reminds me of some of the watercolors of Charles Demuth. Both artists allow a feeling of something provisional and unresolved to enter their work. Art is an ongoing conversation and exchange of ideas across time.