Tie-back c. 1938

This drawing of a tie-back was made by Harry Jennings, but we don't know exactly when. What strikes me about it is the way the color creates form. It's like the object comes into being through a kind of alchemy of greens and golds. It's as if Jennings is showing us how the physical world is constructed from light and shadow, a process of continuous becoming. Look at the hand on the right. The paint seems almost translucent there, like you could see the bones beneath the skin. Then notice the other end, how the colors become darker, more opaque. The artist shows us the hand holding leaves, a symbol of growth and life, while the other is robust and unyielding. These different areas seem to talk to each other, like characters in a play. It reminds me a little of Charles Burchfield's watercolors, the way he used color to express emotion. Ultimately, this work is about change, not just in the depiction of an object, but in how we see the world around us.