Money Vest c. 1939

Rose Campbell-Gerke made this drawing of a money vest, probably with watercolors or colored pencils. I can almost feel her hand moving across the paper, carefully rendering each seam and buckle. It looks like she was really looking, trying to understand how the thing was put together, how it works. I imagine her contemplating the weight of it, the promise of wealth, and the burden of security. The ochre yellow of the vest is so gently done, almost like it is painted with a memory, or like it is her own skin. Notice the small, bright red diamond shapes that line the pockets and edges? So precise, so regular. They’re like tiny jewels that make the ordinary precious. I wonder if that was the job of money for the artist. Maybe it was more than just money, but a symbol of something else, maybe of survival. There's something touching in the way Rose paid so much attention to it. It feels like a tribute to the everyday, to the things that sustain us. I feel a connection between Rose and all the artists who find beauty in the mundane, who elevate the ordinary through close observation and thoughtful rendering.