Man's Boot c. 1938

Eugene C. Miller made this watercolor and graphite boot on paper. I imagine him, perhaps in the quiet of his studio, carefully building up the tones, the darks of the leather contrasting with the pale paper. I am completely absorbed by the wrinkles around the shaft of the boot – like topographical maps or tree bark, each line suggests something. It reminds me of the way Fairfield Porter or Alex Katz made everyday subjects monumental. It’s as if Miller is saying this boot matters, this working man matters, and the details of his life matter. Maybe he was thinking about the way light hits the leather, or the way the boot has creased through years of wear. Maybe he was thinking about painting as an act of honoring ordinary life. Painters have always learned from each other – building on the past, re-interpreting it, arguing with it. "Man's Boot" is a reminder that painting is a conversation across generations. It’s about how we see, how we feel, and how we connect.