Painted Box c. 1953

Douglas Cox's 'Painted Box' is made with an unknown medium, probably sometime in the mid-20th century. I'm really drawn to this image - it’s like a memory, or a dream of a box. The way it’s rendered, it’s not quite real but also not totally abstract. Cox approaches the depiction of the box as if he were painting it, the marks are a little uneven, not quite aligned; there is a sense of it being observed and constructed simultaneously. I imagine Cox carefully applying each layer, each stroke contributing to the overall form, like building a sculpture from pigment. You get a sense of the artist’s hand, the way the colors blend and shift, creating depth and texture. It’s almost like he’s not just painting a box, but also the idea of a box, the essence of box-ness. It reminds me of Morandi's still lifes; it's so simple but invites endless contemplation. I wonder what artists in the future will make of this image? Painting is an act of communion across time.