Old Book, "Life of Wesley" c. 1936

This image shows a watercolour of ‘Old Book, "Life of Wesley"’ by Magnus S. Fossum. It's a painting of a book and its title page. I can just picture Fossum in his studio, carefully mixing his watercolours, lost in the details of the book's worn cover and the delicate typography of the title page. The brown of the leather looks stained and blotchy, and you can imagine the brushstrokes going back and forth, building up the texture to give this sense of age. See how the light catches the edges of the book? Fossum knew how to use the white of the paper to his advantage. It makes me think of Morandi, or maybe even some of Giorgio de Chirico’s still lifes. All of them contemplating the magic held within everyday objects. Artists are magpies, always looking and borrowing from each other, building on the work that came before, reinterpreting the world through their own lens.