Trunk c. 1937

John Thorsen made this watercolor painting of a trunk, and what strikes me first is the texture. You can almost feel the rough wood grain, the worn leather straps, and the cold, hard metal fastenings just by looking at it. I imagine Thorsen, deeply focused, layering the washes of browns and grays to capture the play of light on the trunk’s surface. Maybe he paused, considering how to render the subtle curve of the lid, or the way the leather sags with age. I bet he was thinking about all the stories a trunk could tell. What journeys did it take? What treasures did it hold? It reminds me of some of Rackstraw Downes’ landscapes, that hyper-realism, but for me the appeal is more about the emotional connection than the optical tricks. Both artists show us how close looking can reveal hidden beauty in the everyday.