Trousers 1935 - 1942

Daniel Marshack made this watercolour of trousers, we don’t know exactly when, and I find that very interesting. The muted palette and delicate washes give the work a ghostly quality, like a memory fading. Up close, you can see the subtle variations in tone, the way he builds up the form of the trousers with thin layers of pigment. Look at the stain on the right leg – Marshack doesn't shy away from the marks of wear and tear. The trousers aren't pristine or idealized; they're real, lived-in. And that’s kind of amazing in an artwork. I always find a way in with the real. It reminds me of some of the early Pop artists like, say, Jim Dine, who took ordinary objects and elevated them to the status of art. But Marshack's approach is more intimate, more personal. It’s like he’s inviting us to contemplate the beauty and fragility of everyday life. It’s not just a pair of trousers, it’s a portrait of a life lived, a story told in cloth and color.