Waistcoat c. 1936

Bessie Forman made this watercolour of a waistcoat, we don't know exactly when, but probably during the late 19th or early 20th century. It's a garment, a piece of clothing, carefully rendered. It's not just about representation, though. It's about process. The waistcoat has a delicate surface, worked with tiny, repetitive marks. What looks like a quick sketch of the back is anything but, revealing the structure of the garment. It reminds me of a Cy Twombly painting, the way the layering of colour and line creates a sense of depth and movement. The transparency of the watercolour allows the paper to breathe. It's not overworked, the surface remains open. The drawing of the back of the waistcoat is like a dressmaker's pattern, it recalls the work of some of the conceptual artists of the 1960’s, like Sol LeWitt who saw their art as instruction or a set of rules. I love the idea of Bessie Forman as a kind of proto-conceptualist, exploring the relationship between art and life through the simple act of drawing.