Lowboy 1935 - 1942

This ‘Lowboy’ was made anonymously, with what looks like watercolor on paper. Imagine the patience it took to render all that woodgrain, those cabriole legs, and three little drawers. I like to think about what the artist might have been thinking as they worked. Maybe they loved furniture, maybe it was a chore, like painting the hallway. There is something pleasing about the gentle ochre palette, isn't there? It’s quiet, but determined in its own way. Each stroke builds the image, slowly, deliberately, like layering memory, thought by thought. You see, the anonymous artist is working in conversation with the cabinet maker, and also a lineage of representational painters. It’s all a giant game of telephone, and we’re just trying to listen in. What do you think they are saying?