Boy's Boots c. 1937

Harry Grossen’s watercolor of Boy's Boots feels like a quiet hum, doesn’t it? Imagine him, back in the late 19th or early 20th century, carefully layering those washes of color. I can almost feel the weight of those little boots, the way the dark blues and browns blend, creating this soft, worn texture. See how the light catches the tops of the boots? Maybe he was thinking about the playfulness of childhood, the scuffs and tumbles, the way shoes become these intimate objects. Did he paint them from life, or was he working from memory? That little horse motif with the words ‘See my New Boots’ is so quaint and charming. It’s like a whisper of advertising, or a little note about aspiration. I see him trying to find his own path, to capture something of the everyday. It’s a sweet moment, suspended in time. Just like all of us, he was looking to see something new.