Chair (Samuel Chase) 1935 - 1942

James Fisher made this drawing of a chair, sometime before 1995. The brown watercolor paint has pooled in some areas and has left visible brushstrokes. It's so meticulously rendered, and in such great detail. You can almost feel the smoothness of the wood. I'm picturing Fisher, totally absorbed, patiently building up each tone, each shadow. There's such intimacy in observing something this closely. What does it mean to really look? To fix something in your mind, in your memory? I often find myself looking at paintings and thinking about other paintings, like Fairfield Porter’s domestic interiors. But it's not about imitation or exact representation. Rather it’s an act of engagement, it's a dialogue between the artist, their subject, and the history of painting. We’re all in conversation, constantly influencing each other, and isn’t that the whole point of art?