Cocker Spaniel with Cloud at Night 1963

Joan Brown painted "Cocker Spaniel with Cloud at Night" using oil on canvas, a traditional material for easel painting. Look closely, and you'll see that she has applied the paint very thickly, with visible brushstrokes and textured layers building up to create a rough, almost sculptural surface. This impasto technique gives the painting a tangible, physical presence, making it less like a window onto another world and more like a crafted object. The weight and density of the paint draw attention to the act of painting itself. Brown seems less interested in illusionism and more interested in the materiality of her medium. Her bold application of paint emphasizes the labor involved in its production and the artist’s hand. "Cocker Spaniel with Cloud at Night" invites us to consider the relationship between the image and the matter that makes it.