Chair (handmade) c. 1941

Glenn Wilson made this painting of a chair sometime between 1855 and 1995 with what looks like watercolor. The palette is muted, earthy - creams and browns, like a sepia photograph bleached by the sun. I imagine Wilson hunkered over a table, carefully building up the tones of the wood, trying to capture the way light catches on the woven seat. There's something tender in the way he's rendered this humble object. It's not about virtuosity; it's about connection. The thin washes remind me of Fairfield Porter's domestic scenes, that same quiet attention to the everyday. Wilson probably wasn’t trying to reinvent the wheel, but was simply drawn to the quiet beauty of this handmade chair. It's a conversation with tradition, a nod to the generations of makers who find beauty in simple forms.