Window Seat 1937

Ferdinand Cartier made this watercolor, Window Seat, sometime in the 20th century. The palette is spare, mostly variations on a warm sienna, except for the soft yellow seat. It’s the kind of drawing that makes you think about the pleasure of lines, how they dance and define a shape. Looking closely, you can almost feel the texture of the paper, see the subtle variations in the washes of color that Cartier applied. The way the watercolor bleeds a little at the edges gives it a soft, intimate quality, like a memory fading at the edges. See how the legs of the seat curve? There is real elegance in that curve, a lightness that lifts the whole piece. It reminds me of Matisse, that same love of line, that ability to suggest volume with so little. Cartier’s eye for form and detail feels connected to an older tradition, like the architectural drawings of the Renaissance. But there’s also something modern in its simplicity, that focus on essential shapes. Art is always a conversation, after all, echoing across time.