Wall Painting 1936

Robert W.R. Taylor made this watercolor, "Wall Painting" in 1956. Right away, I notice the watery washes and how the pigment pools and blooms on the paper. I love that! You can see the hand of the artist in the way the colors blend and bleed. The painting depicts a doorway, maybe in a Spanish mission, with all these wonderful decorative details. Look at how the archway is adorned with little red triangles, and there's this cool floral motif right at the top. It's not hyper-realistic, but more like a memory or an impression. I'm drawn to the way Taylor uses color—that muted palette of earthy reds, yellows, and blues. See how the red seeps through the archway, it makes me think that Taylor might have been influenced by artists like Milton Avery, who simplified forms and used color to create atmosphere. In the end, it’s about seeing the world in your own way, and Taylor's work reminds us of that.