Red Coat 

Dan Graziano made this painting, Red Coat, using oil on canvas. The picture depicts a woman wearing a red coat walking down the street in front of a white building with the words "Dry Goods Notions" inscribed on it. The commercial architecture suggests a small town in America, a place where residents have a collective identity. The trees hanging over the street evoke a sense of community as people leisurely do their shopping. Graziano reminds us that the places where we buy and sell goods are also places where social relations are formed. How are the institutions of everyday life reflected in art? The historian will want to examine old city directories, newspapers and census records to better understand the ways that commercial and social life intertwine. The meaning of art always relies on an understanding of its social and institutional contexts.