Cow Weather Vane c. 1939

This is Philip Johnson's 'Cow Weather Vane', made with graphite and watercolor, though we don't know exactly when. Can you imagine Johnson outside, squinting against the sun, trying to capture the rusty sheen of that old weather vane? The palette is earthy – browns and greens – mirroring the weathered metal, with touches of red hinting at rust. I find myself thinking about the balance between precision and looseness here. See the careful outline of the cow against the way the color seems to bleed and pool in places, creating texture. It’s like Johnson is wrestling with the tension between representation and abstraction. The way the cow is cropped feels so contemporary. It's got a raw, unfinished quality, reminding me that painting is as much about the act of seeing as it is about the thing being seen. Johnson is in conversation with generations of painters who have tried to capture the world around them in surprising ways.